Konoha High
by theAnonymousAsian
Summary: Amaya has moved to a different village, but what kind of students does Konoha High hold for her to meet? OC's? Yes. Pairings? Yup! Any pairing is possible (aside from Yaoi/Yuri), but it'll all fall into place at some point..., or will it? [Read profile for additional information]
1. Welcome to Konoha High

Konoha High

_**Introduction:**_

Some information to know beforehand: All the clans, the Hokage, the weapons, jutsu, and villages still exist. Think of this narrative's setting as modern-day Konoha. Yes, they are still shinobi, however, in this specific setting, the villages are at peace.

The narrative will be told from different characters' points of view, so make sure you read the upper-left in case the point of view has shifted to another character.

_**These first chapters are definitely the shortest and are mostly for introduction. I promise I'm doing my best to improve my writing, and *if you happen to get bored, try skipping to chapter 7 or 8. This is where more of the conflict is introduced.**_

_**Try reading these chapters, though, as there is some foreshadowing to what may occur later in the series.**_

_**Thanks!**_

1 - Welcome to Konoha High

_Amaya Shimizu_

This is it. I'm going to start my first day at Konoha High in about an hour. But first, I need to get ready; to be prepared. Not only appearance wise, but _mentally._ Konoha High School is known for its students, which I've heard to be cruel, stuck up, and violent. Plus, I skipped a grade, so all of the students in my class will be older than me. I'm nervous.

"Amaya, hurry up!" I sit up in bed as my older sister, Aiko, yells at me to get ready for school. "I'm up…" I mutter. "Then dress up already!" She runs past my doorway with a toothbrush in her mouth and uniform on a hanger in the her right hand. She's three years older than me; a senior in high school. Aiko-nee-san is pretty, organized, and smart. She is a bit pushy, but she's all I have.

Our parents died in a car crash about a year ago, leaving Aiko and me living alone…

Aiko and I just moved from Kiriga to this place, Konoha, yesterday. New place, new house, new school, new _people._ For Aiko, it may not be a problem. But for _me, _it's going to be a lonely experience. I'm not very good at socializing with other people.

"_Amaya!"_ I finally push my feet out of the blanket and stand up. I walk over to the pile of boxes that contains all of my clothes. I randomly pull out a long-sleeved blue and gray striped shirt, black pants, and gray button-up aviator jacket, then throw on the outfit. Aiko walks in and studies me, then digs through the box and throws me a blue scarf to complete the outfit. "It's cold outside. Bundle up." She smiles and walks back to her own room.

_New people. New people. New people. _Aiko's words repeat themselves constantly in my head. I remember last night's conversation during the car trip here:

"_Hey Aiko-onee-san…?" _I asked her.

"_Yeah?"_

"_Why do we have to move…?"_

"_You don't have to be so worried. I mean… It'll be a nice change. New place, new house, new school, new people."_

"_New people…" _I mutter under my breath.

"_Look, Amaya… I didn't decide to move for the new house or people, and I know Konoha High is really notorious for its students, but it's for the best. It's for our futures. Konoha's college is one of the best, and I'm graduating after this school year… I'm sure you understand."_

I silently nodded.

"_Amaya… Don't worry. I'll take care of you. I'll protect you," _she glanced at me in the passenger seat, then smiled. _"If anyone hurts you, you just tell me. I promise I'll kick their asses for you." _We both laughed, then continued the trip in a peaceful silence.

Now, I'm walking to the bathroom to look in the mirror. I push aside all of Aiko's make-up, (which she uses just occasionally, even though she didn't need it,) and find the hairbrush. My hair is standing in all directions; it's always like this when I wake up. I hate it.

When I'm done brushing my hair, I examine myself in the mirror. I see a fifteen-year-old girl. She has straight long hair that's a dull dark brown color. She has typical brown eyes, and lips, curved up into a fake smile. She's not wearing any make-up.

"You ready?" Aiko asks from her room.

"Yeah." I walk out of the bathroom, and pick up a pair of shoes by the door. They're the gray pair I wore last night, with the black laces. They're pretty dirty, but I'm too lazy to dig through the box again for another pair.

As soon as I finish putting on the shoes, I hear the door to my sister's room slam shut. She walks toward me and stops right in front of where I'm sitting on the floor. My black messenger bag is dangling from her hands, along with a blue beanie. "You forgot this," she sets the bag on the floor next to me. "And-" she places the beanie into my hands. "-didn't I tell you it's cold outside?"

I pick up the bag and put on the beanie. "Aiko…" I say.

"What?" She's walking toward the door.

"I dunno if I can do this…"

"You know, Amaya," she has her hand on the doorknob now, ready to turn it and leave. "You'll never know if you never try."

I walk toward where she is. We leave and I close the door behind me.

"The high school isn't that far," Aiko is telling me. "See? We can just walk." She's pointing at the school, which is clearly visible from where we're standing. "Several blocks. Not that far. Come on."

My legs feel heavy. _New people. New people, _the voice inside my head tells me. Then, _you'll never know if you never try._ Aiko… I hope you're right about this.

When we finally get to the school, the first thing I notice is how unexpectedly clean it is. It's painted red, and from the front, you can see that it's about four stories high, with plenty of windows, and a wide set of four stairs that lead up to the entrance. No graffiti, no broken windows; no _flaws_

Then I hear someone shouting: "Dammit Naruto! When are you gonna stop bugging Sasuke-kun?!" I look in the direction that the shouting is coming from and see a group of girls surrounding one boy with spiky blonde hair and blue eyes. He's wearing a dirty orange t-shirt underneath the school uniform's blazer, and the uniform's pants are ripped at the knees. He looks like he was just in a fight- or more like he _lost _a fight.

"Naruto! Have you learned your lesson yet?! This is like the third time this week!" It's the same voice from earlier. It belongs to a girl with light pink hair and light green eyes with a very slight, blue-ish tint.

The boy, whose name is apparently Naruto, grunts and disappears into the school building. The girl turns around, and I realize she's staring at _me._ I can feel my cheeks turn red with embarrassment, since I must have looked kinda creepy just staring at them from a distance, but she waves. "Hey!" She motions for me to come closer.

I walk to where she is, and the group that was surrounding Naruto separates into different areas of the front of the school. "I've never seen you around before…" I stare at the floor, then awkwardly mumble, "I just transferred here."

She examines me, her face has a questionable expression on it. She fakes a smile and steps away slightly. "Sorry, I have to go. See you around!" She waves good-bye and goes inside.

"Amaya," I turn around and see Aiko standing there, holding two pieces of paper. She briefly studies one, then gives me the other. "Here, I just picked them up at the office." It's my new schedule.

"Well… I'll go now. Your schedule says you're in Kakashi-sensei's class. If I'm right… His classroom is on the third floor, room 3-A. Good luck!" She walks inside, and for a while, I'm actually following her. Then she walks into a classroom on the second floor, and I'm now walking alone.

I try to pay attention to my surroundings, just to get used to this place, but it feels so different. As I'm climbing the stairs to the third floor, someone bumps into me as he's running past me. He has spiky brown hair, black eyes, and red marks on his cheeks. "Sorry," he apologizes. He turns around, but when he sees me, he gives me the same questionable expression the other girl had. "Umm… New here?" He asks. I nod.

"Well welcome to Konoha High." He nods a greeting, and continues walking upstairs. Now it feels like I'm following someone again. I keep walking, through the third floor hallway. The boy is still in front of me. When he stops and enters a classroom, I think, _At least I don't look like I'm stalking him anymore, _then look up. The sign above the door says _3-A._ This is where I need to go, too.

"Looks like you've got a stalker," a girl- the one with pink hair- nods her head towards me. The boy turns around. "Oh. Hey. Didn't notice you following me." He smirks. I clutch onto the messenger bag's strap. _Tightly._

"Th-th-this is m-my class t-t-too…" I stutter.

"Oh, aha…" he scratches the back of his head with one hand.

"Sorry!" The girl apologizes. She walks towards me and extends her arm, "I'm Sakura Haruno. Welcome to Konoha High."

**Author's Note:**

_**These first chapters are definitely the shortest and are mostly for introduction. I promise I'm doing my best to improve my writing, and *if you happen to get bored, try skipping to chapter 7 or 8. This is where more of the conflict is introduced.**_

_**Try reading these chapters, though, as there is some foreshadowing to what may occur later in the series.**_

_**Thanks!**_


	2. Good Luck

Konoha High

2 - Good Luck…

_Amaya Shimizu_

"Welcome to Konoha High." I shook Sakura-chan's hand. She points at the boy. "That's Kiba."

"Yeah. Kiba. That's me," he says, then smiles and shakes my hand, too.

"I'm Amaya."

They're both giving me that questionable expression again, but they're trying to hide it. "Sorry," Sakura says, "but umm… What are you wearing?" I look down at the random outfit I put together. "Well we just moved, so I just pulled out random clothes from the box and-" Sakura puts her finger to my lips to shut me up, then gestures for me to look around the classroom. Everyone else is wearing a uniform, and they're all staring at me. The only girl not wearing the red blazer and gray skirt and pants of this school's uniform.

"Oh…" I realize how much I must stand out from everyone else. I should have thought about that.

"_Amaya, you're uniform is gonna come a little later. Sorry, but try to blend in with the red-and-gray atmosphere for a while, k?" _Aiko warned me about it, yet ironically, she's the one who added to my blue-gray-black outfit.

"Since I just transferred… M-My uniform is going to come kind of late…"

"Ohh…" Kiba pats my back, "You'll be fine. Hey, class is gonna start soon, but come and hang out with some of my friends later, k? I'll introduce you to some new people."

I nodded, "Sure…" Sakura takes my arm in her hand. "And sit next to me during class." She sits down at a desk in the front and gestures to the one next to her. _Uhh, no thanks. _I take the seat behind her.

The teacher, Kakashi, comes into the room and takes a seat at his desk facing us. "Good morning. Sorry I'm late. I got lost on the path of life and… Well, never mind that. I see we have a new student today." He smiles at me, "Stand up and introduce yourself."

_Uh oh…_ I stand. "I-I'm…"

"You're…?"

"-Sitting in my desk!" The boy Naruto appears in the doorway. He stomps over to me and slams his hand onto my desk. "I dunno who you are, but get out of my desk, or else…!" His serious expression starts to fade, and he bursts out laughing. "Sorry! Haha, sorry! I'm just kidding. But I kinda need my desk back."

"Sorry…" I walk to the one Sakura wanted me to sit in, since that's the only one actually empty. Naruto sits down, "Go on… You're…?"

"Amaya."

"Welcome, Amaya-san. Well excuse Naruto-kun's foolishness, let's start class," Kakashi-sensei begins reading something from a notebook which I assume has his lesson plans. Then he looks at me again. "Amaya, do you have your textbooks yet?"

I shake my head.

"Go to the office and get them, then. Here, take this," he stands from his desk and sets the note on mine. _Hall Pass: New student; needs textbooks._

"Do you know where the office is?"

I shake my head.

"Well then! Umm…," he looks around the room, "Sasuke-kun! Go with her." A boy with black hair, spiked in the back, stands up. The girls are whispering to each other as he walks up the row of desks to the door. "Let's go."

I walk, quickly but awkwardly, to catch up to him. I hold the note in my right hand, and hold onto my right arm with my left. Sasuke is wearing a white t-shirt under the uniform's blazer. The design on the front is a red and white emblem outlined in black… _Why does it look so familiar?_

"Sasuke-san… Right?" _Here we go…, I'm trying to make a friend. I'm trying to socialize._

He nods. "Uchiha. Sasuke Uchiha." No wonder the emblem looks familiar. It's the Uchiha clan's.

We walk down the stairs to the third floor.

Then the second.

Then the first.

All in complete silence. Is he always this quiet?

"Go." I almost jump when I hear his voice again. He's pointing at a door with a sign above labeled _Office._ I turn the knob and walk inside. "Hello," a woman with short black hair greets me. "Are you Amaya? Sorry. Your sister was in here earlier asking for the schedules. I'm Shizune."

"Yeah, I'm Amaya. I just, um…" I hand her the note. "Textbooks… Okay, give me a second," she runs into a room further into the office and comes back with a pile of at least ten books. Four books are stacked and bundled together with some rope. _Junior Math, Junior Literature, Junior History & Social Studies, Junior Science._ "These ones are essential," she hands me the bundle. "Now the rest of the books are just guides; extra information about Konoha High School. You can go ahead and take them, too. You should probably go to class now, so you don't miss anything important."

I try to carry all the books, but the pile is too heavy. I walk slowly to the door, trying to balance the pile. My feet hit a bump in the carpet, and as I'd expected, I'm dropping the books and outstretching my arms to avoid falling on them. But something catches me. Some_one._

Sasuke is looking down at me now, but his face doesn't show even the smallest trace of concern. "Be more careful," he says sternly, then sets me on my feet. "O-Okay…" I pick up all the books, but before I can start walking again, he takes half of them.

"Why don't you put them in your bag?"

"O-Oh… Right." I look down and realize my bag isn't here. _I'm such an idiot. _"I-"

"-forgot it in the classroom. Whatever, come on. I don't wanna miss too much of the class." _Sheesh. _Sasuke is kinda harsh…

When we finally get back to the classroom, everyone stares at us, which I really hate. They're making me feel like I just killed five people and walked back like it was nothing.

"Got your books?" Kakashi-sensei asks. I hold up the bundle I have and set it on my desk. Sasuke sets the rest onto the desk as he walks back to his own.

"Okay! Well sorry, Amaya-san, but you transferred at a weird time. You'll need to do some catching up over break." Right. It's December and today's the Friday before winter break starts. "Don't worry, you didn't miss out on anything, I'm pretty sure your previous school covered all the stuff you need to know, so all you need to do over break-and this goes for all of you- is study for some exams that are coming up after break." Everyone groaned.

"Sorry guys, but it's required."

The day's going by pretty quickly. Kakashi is just finishing a quick lesson in shinobi tactics before we leave. "I know we're all at peace right now, but we need to be prepared… Just in case," he tells us. The bell rings. "K, have a nice break guys. And _don't forget to study!"_

"Hey Amaya!" Kiba's calling from the back of the room. "Come on. Let's go get something to eat." He walks to the door and waits for me. I put the textbooks in my bag and walk outside. "Isn't Sakura coming with us?"

He shakes his head, "Nahh."

"Why? I thought we were going with all your friends."

"She's not really a _friend, _I'd say more of like… Just a classmate or acquaintance."

"Oh." We're walking outside of the school now, past buildings that are all so unfamiliar to me. Kiba stops in front of a small red building with a banner in the front reading _Ichiraku._ "This is it," Kiba tells me.

"It's a ramen place," he says, "I decided to come here because there's one person I invited who's _guaranteed _to actually come." I lift the banner, which serves as a door in some way, and walk inside with Kiba.

"Yo!" Naruto turns around in his seat. "There you go," Kiba laughs and sits next to Naruto, "I told you he'd be here."

"H-Hello, Naruto-san."

"Hey. Umm…" Kiba nudges him. "_Amaya-san."_

"Amaya-san! Right, hey Amaya-san. What're you doing here?"

"I invited. Since she's new, I decided to help out with the introductions."

"Ahh," Naruto nods and shakes my hand. "Sorry your first impression of me isn't exactly as it awesome as it should've been, but hey, I'm Naruto Namikaze!" He seems so full of energy. He turns back around to face the man behind the counter. "Teuchi! Can you get me the usual ramen please?" The man smiles, "I know Naruto-kun, now what about you, Kiba?"

Kiba studies the menu. "Hmm… I'll take the barbeque pork ramen. Oh, Teuchi, this is Amaya. She just moved here."

"Hello," his smile is warm and welcoming. "What can I get for you today?"

"Um…"

"She'll take what I'm having," Naruto answers for me. "First time here, so make it awesome!" Teuchi nods and heads straight to the kitchen.

"Hey guys," a boy with his hair tied up in a spiky ponytail walks inside. "Am I late?"

"Nahh," Kiba said, "You're fine."

He had pierced ears, a beige-green colored shirt, and the gray uniform pants. "I brought Choji with me," he says, and as soon as he does, another boy, slightly chubbier than the others, walks in behind him. They sit next to each other on the end of the counter with Kiba.

"Again, sorry if I'm late. But being early is-"

"-_such a drag,_" the four of them said in unison, then they all laughed.

"Signature catchphrase," the boy says, then smirks. "Oh hey," he finally notices me. "You're the new kid."

Kiba nods. "Yeah. Amaya, this is Shikamaru, and next to him is Choji."

"Hey," I say quietly.

Teuchi comes out of the kitchen balancing three bowls on a tray, then places them in front of Naruto, Kiba, and me. A younger girl with long brown hair and a white apron comes out and places two more bowls in front of Shikamaru and Choji. "I told you they'd end up being here, too," she tells Teuchi.

"Guess you're right," he laughs.

We're all eating now, Naruto eating at a faster pace than the rest of us, with Choji close behind. Now I could see why he was "_guaranteed_" to come. They're all talking and laughing and eating, it's making me feel a bit uncomfortable to be here; the only girl, and the only quiet one.

"I can't believe you picked another fight with him," Shikamaru mumbles over the noodles. Naruto suddenly goes silent. Is he talking about how Naruto looked beat up earlier?

"…I swear, one day…," Naruto grins. "…I'll kick Sasuke's ass _for sure_."

"Umm…" I'm beginning to say. Everyone's looking at me.

"Not that it's any of my business, but… Why do you hate Sasuke so much?"

Naruto looks like he's thinking about how to answer. "Well… Do you think Sasuke is…_hot?"_

_Maybe a little… _"Nope."

"Ha! Then there you go. All the girls at Konoha High are falling for that jerk, even though he doesn't care at all. I feel bad for them, but I think Sasuke needs to learn his place. Be more considerate, or something."

"Oh…" I stare into my empty bowl of ramen. Kiba stands up and walks toward me. He tugs on my wrist gently as he passes me on his way outside Ichiraku. I think I should follow him…

"Oh, um, thanks, Teuchi," I put some money on the counter and start getting up, "I'm gonna go now, it was nice meeting you all. Bye."

"Kiba, what is it?" I'm just walking under the banner and toward Kiba, who's standing outside with his arms crossed. "Well, Naruto has this rivalry with Sasuke, and he told you the truth, but there's a bit more to it that I think you should know, but he's not gonna talk about it with the other guys there."

"Yeah…?"

"So… He said something about other girls really liking Sasuke, right?" I nod. "Well, he does hate Sasuke's cockiness, but aside from that, he's just… jealous." _Jealous? _"You know that girl Sakura you were talking to before class?"

"Yeah."

"She likes Sasuke."

"And…?"

"Well Naruto, he likes Sakura." I see now. Naruto just wishes Sakura would notice him.

"Okay, well, I'ma go now… Parents probably don't want me to be home too late, and Akamaru probably needs me home."

"Akamaru?"

"Yeah… he's my dog. Or you could say best friend, too. I left him home for the first time today… I usually sneak him into school with me, but I almost go caught yesterday and didn't wanna risk it."

"Ahh… Okay, well bye." He starts walking away. I can hear Naruto and the others coming out of Ichiraku.

"Amaya? I thought you left," Shikamaru sounds like he doesn't care though.

"Yeah," Naruto agrees, and Choji nods. "Well we're going. So… See you tomorrow." They wave at me, and I wave back to say good-bye.

The sun is just setting, and I'm walking home alone. I hope Aiko isn't worrying about where I am.

When I finally catch sight of my house, I start running to the door. Inside, Aiko is setting up the television by the wall. She looks up from what she's doing, "Hey. Where were you?"

"Oh, out with some people."

"Friends?"

"Classmates."

"…Okay, well then, mind helping me set up the television?" I walk to where she is and hold the end opposite of where Aiko is. "Just center it on the stand… One, two, three!" We lift the TV onto its stand and for a while, we just stare at it. "Okay! Now we're one step closer to making this place our new home," she smiles.

I smile back at her, then walk to my room. On my bed, there's a blue bag on my bed with a hanger sticking through the top. I lift the bag off. The contents held within the bag are a medium-length gray skirt, a red blazer, a pair of black stockings, and black shoes. _My uniform. _

"Oh, yeah. Just arrived," Aiko's looking at me from my doorway. "Now you'll fit in just fine."

"Yeah…"

"Hey, help me set up the rest of the living room," she walks away, and I follow her.

We go into the garage and lift a beige couch into the living room, along with two coffee tables, two lamps, and another table to place in front of the couch.

[…]

We finally finished arranging all the stuff in the living room. Aiko's laying on the floor now, panting because of all the lifting we had to do, even though it wasn't that heavy.

"What time is it?" She asks me. I look at the clock on the wall. "About… 9:50."

"What do you want for dinner?"

"I'm actually still full… I went to eat at Ichiraku earlier."

"Okay. Well you should go sleep then so you'll wake up earlier for school."

I take the advice. I turned off the lights and lay in my bed, just now noticing how tired I am…

[…]

"Amaya!" Aiko's shouting again. "Amaya! Wake up!" I'm sitting up in bed, seemingly repeating yesterday morning.

"I'm up!" I yell back at her.

I get out of the bed and walk to the closet where I hung my uniform. I decide to wear a plain white long-sleeved button- up shirt to wear underneath the blazer, then put on the gray skirt with the black stockings and shoes.

I brush my hair, look at myself in the mirror, and try to convince myself: _It's not gonna be that bad._

"Come on, Amaya!" Aiko's calling me from the front door again. I walk out of the bathroom to meet her, and we leave the house to start walking to school.

_It's not gonna be that bad…_


	3. Friends

Konoha High

_**On the left before the beginning paragraph, you'll usually see a name. Whoever's name is written will be narrating, but it might change more than once, so read carefully if you don't wanna get lost.**_

3 - Friends

_Kiba Inuzuka_

I'm taking Akamaru out for a walk, and I see Amaya and her sister about thirty yards away.

"Hey!" I run to them, they're stopping so I can catch up.

"Where are you guys going?" I ask. They're wearing their uniforms for some reason.

"School… Where else?" Amaya's sister replies.

"Well, I was talking to Amaya, but umm okay… and well… You do know there's no school today, or for the next two weeks, right?"

Amaya's face is turning red, "Ai-Aiko-nee-san! Why didn't you say anything?"

"Well… I forgot, too…" Her sister Aiko is scrunching up her lips and looking to her right to avoid further embarrassment.

"Amaya! Let's go back home."

"O-okay…"

"Wait!" I shout. They're both staring at me.

"Umm… Hey Amaya, wanna um, hang out later?"

"Uh… S-sure, K-K-Kiba-san…"

"Meet me in front of the school at about 11 I guess." She nods and walks away.

_Amaya Shimizu_

_It's not gonna be that bad… _Yeah, right. Why did I tell myself that?! I'm on my way to school then meet Kiba, who tells me that we don't even have school today… I'm such an idiot.

But he told me to meet him in front of the school at 11.. Does this mean that we're… _friends? _Well it's about 8 right now, so I have three hours to get ready.

"Hey Amaya," Aiko walks into my room. "Are you gonna go?"

"I guess so…"

"Nice. He seems like a good friend to have."

"Yeah…" She walks out, and I start pouring all my clothes out of the box, then I arrange them in my closet. I put all my shoes on the floor of the closet, against the wall.

_What should I wear…?_

I look through all the clothes and decide to wear a yellow t-shirt with blue jeans and yellow Converse. I think I should wear a jacket, so I look for a white one to match the rest of the outfit.

_Okay… You're going to hang out with a _friend _from school, calm down, it's nothing difficult. Just… don't freak out. Don't go emo on them._

"Aiko, I'm leaving now…" I open the front door and start walking to Konoha High.

[…]

"Amaya?… How long have you been here?" Shikamaru asks as he waves and sits by me on the stairs to the entrance of the school.

"Since about… 8:45."

"Why so early?"

"Had nothing better to do. Well hey, it's only 9:30. I should be asking you the same thing."

He stretches, yawns, then lays back on the stairs. "This is one of my sky gazing places."

"_Sky gazing places?" _I ask.

"Yeah." He has his hands behind his hand, and he's not even looking at me. He's looking at… _Oh. _He's looking up; at the sky.

"Cool… I like watching the sky, too. Especially at night, when the stars are visible, or whenever it rains."

"When it rains?"

"Well… I just like rain. I don't really need to look at the sky, I just like looking up and feeling the precipitation fall lightly on my face…," I look down awkwardly. "…It must sound kinda weird…"

"Nahh. But I can tell you, you're really suited to your name."

"Huh?"

"Hmm, well," he starts explaining, "You like to watch the sky at _night. _And you really like _rain. _I bet you must _love _taking walks in the rain at night. Aha, well, your name means 'night rain,' right? _Amaya."_

"Oh… yeah. I hadn't really thought about it."

For a moment we're both quiet. Then he pats the spot on the stair about seven inches from his head. "Why don't you give sky gazing a try in the daytime?" He laughs.

I lay back, and for a while it's uncomfortable, but then I get used to it. The sky _is _really amazing to look at in the daytime. "I can see why you like this so much now…"

"Yeah, aha, but what really fascinates me is the clouds. _That's _what got me into sky gazing." He looks so happy, laying there watching clouds.

"Hmm, cool. Why the clouds?"

"The fact that they aren't bound to anything. That they just move carelessly about the sky. That they're just…_free."_

"Oh…" Shikamaru's true thoughts are so much deeper than I'd thought, after seeing the way that he falls asleep in class, or how he calls everything _such a drag._ I have a feeling that he's a lot smarter than he lets on.

_Shikamaru Nara_

Amaya stares up at the clouds. Most people question me when I tell them about my fascination with sky gazing and cloud-watching, but she just…accepted it and started cloud-gazing with me.

I thought I would be alone, I mean, I was about an hour or two early, but when I got there, she was already standing in front of Konoha High… If I'd known she'd be three whole hours ahead of time, I would've come sooner, so she wouldn't be alone for an hour and a half.

"Amaya?"

"Hmm?"

"Kiba said 11, right?" I ask. I already know the answer, but it's pretty quiet, and getting kinda awkward.

"Yeah."

"Okay."

It's quiet again. The silence, to me, is usually nice, but now it's kinda killing me.

"So what was it like? You know, before you moved here."

"Hmm… It was alright I guess."

"Must suck that you had to move."

"Yeah… Well, honestly, it really sucked _before_ I moved…"

"Why?" I guess I've been wondering what her life was like in Kiriga.

"Well… It was really lonely. I didn't have many friends there, and on my way here, I was actually pretty terrified. This school is pretty notorious for its students, you know… But I'm glad to be sitting here, right now, waiting for a friend. I'm not a very social person, so this is a really good change for me, I guess."

"Ahh, okay. I know what you're talking about. Before, I thought interacting with people was a waste of time, and, well, _such a drag." _We both laugh. "Then I realized friends are a good thing to have. There are still some really irritating people, but aha, I can manage with few friends."

Again, we're both quiet, staring up at the sky. "Do you know what time it is?" She asks.

"Oh, umm.." I sit up, take my cell phone out of my pocket, and check. "10:20."

"Thanks."

"You don't have a phone?"

"I do, but… I don't use it much. I'm not really used to using one anymore, since there's no purpose, other than to call Aiko."

"Well, give me your phone real quick," I put out my hand so she can set her phone there. "And there you go."

"What did you do?" She takes it back from me.

"Nothing."

Amaya puts her phone back in her pocket, lies back down on the ground, and sighs. "Just a couple of minutes now…"

_Amaya Shimizu_

"Amaya, Shikamaru?" Kiba walks past the gate and onto the school yard, getting closer to the steps where Shikamaru and I are sitting.

"How long have you been here?"

"Since 9:30."

"Not you. Amaya. I know you always come early anyway."

"Oh…, 8:45."

"What?! Don't tell me you're like Shikamaru…except _worse."_

We all laugh. "So who else is invited?" I ask.

"Oh, the usual group," Kiba answers, "Me, Shikamaru, Choji, Naruto, Lee, and sometimes Neji. Oh, and of course, Akamaru here. We don't bother to exclude anyone, but those are just people who can actually _tolerate _us…most of the time." He smirks. His dog Akamaru is sitting on the ground beside him.

Kiba takes a seat on the stairs next to Shikamaru. We're waiting for Choji, because apparently he's Shikamaru's best friend, and Naruto and Neji don't particularly need to be waited for.

"Shikamaru!" Choji runs through the gate, some crumbs falling from a barbeque-flavored potato chip bag. "Kiba! Amaya!" He stands in front of us and smiles. He said my name like it was completely normal for me to be hanging out with them.

"So where are we gonna go?" He asks.

"Park. Maybe the mall," Kiba says.

"Well, let's let Amaya decide," Shikamaru suggests.

"Uhh… well… we could um… go to the park?"

"Sorry Amaya, but that's lame! Let's go to the mall." Naruto jumps over the gate and leans against it.

"Well why the hell do you wanna go to the mall?" Shikamaru mumbles.

"Just 'cause. C'mon, let's go." He walks past the gate again and turns right.

"Ahh, well I guess we're going to the mall," Shikamaru tells me, "Just follow Naruto. It's that way."

[…]

"Here we are." Kiba gestures to the mall with his hand. "This place is pretty packed on weekends though. Why do you wanna be here, Naruto? And no _I don't know, _either."

"Well no reason, really. Just a good place to hang out is all."

"We'll see about that…" Shikamaru smirks.

I think we're going to the food court, but I can't be sure. I've never been here before, but as Kiba said, it's packed with people. This place is huge, with clothing stores everywhere and other technology stores, hardware stores, and more in between.

When we stop walking, we're standing in front of a table in the food court, and Naruto casually takes a seat. "Ahh. I'm so hungry…" Choji says, and immediately drags Shikamaru to a food stand. "Look! Dangos on a stick!"

"So…" I say, left with Kiba and Naruto.

"Well. I should show Amaya around. Naruto can stay here and save our spot."

"K. Whatever."

Kiba walks past the restrooms, then sits on the ledge of a fountain. "So this is where most people hang out. There's a place specifically for me, Naruto, and our group to hang out, but I'll save that for when all of us are here."

"You can't just show me now?" I frown.

"Nahh… I'm making you wait," he sticks his tongue out at me.

We decide to head back to Naruto, but when we get to the table, he's not even sitting there.

"Where is he?" I ask.

Kiba smiles, and points at a table across the food court. Sakura's sitting there, with some other girls. Naruto is sitting at the table behind them, probably eavesdropping or waiting for a chance to talk to Sakura.

"Oh God…" Kiba's laughing. "I dunno how he's gonna pull this off."

"I think I'm just gonna go…um, help him out." I feel bad for him, longing for someone but not getting any attention.

I start walking toward the table he's sitting at, then sit with him. He's staring at me, at first completely confused, then relieved.

"_Thank you. _We should probably get up now though…"

"Uh, no. You sat here for a reason. Go. Now." I feel like I'm smirking now, like Shikamaru or Kiba.

"What? No way! I can't talk to Sakura! All of her friends are with her!"

I sigh. "Fine. Use me as an alibi. Tell her we're hanging out with Kiba and the others. Make her introduce me to the other girls she's with, since I don't know them, either."

"Really?"

"_Yes, _really. Now c'mon!"

He stands up and pushes me toward Sakura's table.

"H-Hi, Sakura-chan." A girl with a clip in her long, blonde (almost white) hair giggles and whispers something to Sakura as Naruto says it.

"Hey, Naruto. Oh! You're with Amaya. Hi." She smiles, but more at me.

"Hey," I smile back, "I was just with Naruto and Kiba. First time at the mall."

"First time? Seriously?" The girl with blonde hair asks.

"Yeah."

"No way! We need to show you around. I mean, like, _really _need to. Oh, I'm Ino, by the way." She smiles and holds out her hand.

"Yeahh, sure, maybe next time. I'm Amaya." I shake her hand.

"Hi there," says a girl with a bun on either side of her head. Her voice is high-pitched and cheery, and she's wearing a white tank top tucked into a red skirt and matching flats. "I'm TenTen!"

"Nice to meet you."

Sakura looks at TenTen, then at me, then frowns.

"Dang it! Well… We should show you around next time, like you said. I hope Hinata-chan can make it, too. You need to meet her, she's in our class. Really nice. Like seriously, _really _nice."

"Oh, really? I'm looking forward to it. Well…, Kiba and Naruto were just buying some snacks, then Naruto saw you and decided to say hi."

"That's nice, _hey, _tell me when you're up to hang out here again, I'll make Hinata come!"  
"You got it."

"Okay, well we're gonna continue shopping so see ya around!" Sakura waved back at us as she walked away with her friends. Naruto's sighing.

"See? She never wants to talk to me."

"It's because you're too awkward and weird."

"Thanks a lot."

"Let's go back, I think Choji and Shikamaru are done buying food."

"Okay."

When we get back to our own table, it's covered with bowls of ice cream, bags of chips, a bowl of soup, frozen yogurt, three orders of Dangos on a Stick, and a extra-large bottle of Coca-Cola.

"Damn, Choji. Thanks for buying us all this food!" Naruto yelled.

"Ohh no," Shikamaru replied, "This isn't for all of us."

"That's right…, most of this is for _me," _Choji said, "But I bought all of you ice cream. Don't fight over which one you want, I got all the flavors you like. Uhh…Except Amaya. Sorry. I just went with cotton candy for you."

"That's fine," I pick up the bowl with blue ice cream in it, there are specks of chocolate shavings. "Thanks, Choji."

He smiles and begins eating, while Kiba, Naruto, and Shikamaru pick up their own bowls of ice cream.

"So who usually gets which flavor?" I ask.

They each hold up a bowl.

"I get rocky road," says Kiba.

"Vanilla with tons of toppings," Naruto digs out a gummy worm and starts chewing on it.

"And me? I like…" He tilts his bowl so the blue-and-brown colored ice cream is visible. "Cotton candy. With. Chocolate. Shavings."

"Oh, so you got the same one for me."

"Yep. Eat up, it's delicious."

We sit around the table and eat our ice cream, with the exception of Choji, who feasts on Dangos.

"Wait, wait," Naruto stops eating, "Let's make a toast."

"Why?" Kiba asks.

"To us. Ten years of friendship-no homo, guys-and a new addition; Amaya. C'mon, join us."

"To us," we all say in unison.

"And to Amaya," Shikamaru adds. They all toast again.


	4. Our Place

Konoha High

4 - Our Place

_Amaya Shimizu_

"So um…" I mutter awkwardly.

"What?" Naruto asks as he finishes his ice cream.

"Well…, Shikamaru told me about this place you guys have here…"

"You showed her the place?" He looks at Shikamaru.

"Well, not yet. I was waiting until we were all here. I guess once we finish our ice cream…"

"After eating? Why can't we just take our food there?" I ask. I'm clearly eager to see this place.

"That's a good idea," Choji adds.

Shikamaru sighs, and picks up his bowl of ice cream.

"Come on."

Naruto and Kiba pick up their bowls, too. They all stand up at the same time.

"Well _come on."_ I realize Shikamaru is talking to me, and that I'm still sitting down.

"Oh umm right."

Once I get up, Shikamaru starts leading us past the fountain, through more shops, then stops at a shop at the dead end of the mall.

"Would you like to do the honors?" He asks Naruto, who nods and begins unlocking the door. Behind it is a metal door/wall, used for when a shop closes. He simply lifts it over his shoulders, then his head, and holds it open for the rest of us to come inside.

"Okay," Naruto says as he drops the door. "Welcome to our place."

Shikamaru walks to a light switch and flips it, when the lights come on, he gestures around the entire room.

"Let's take a look, shall we?" He takes my arm and starts showing me around the room. It's painted a light green and has all sorts of shelves, drawers, and stands around it. I look inside one, there are chips and soda inside. Choji snatches them from the drawer.

"You found the food stash!"  
"It's not much of a stash anymore… That's all that was left in it," I tell him.

"Well that's true… Remind me to buy more food for this place, Shikamaru."

There's a flat-screen television affixed to the wall above a large shelf with sliding doors. Shikamaru slides the doors open to reveal several gaming consoles, controllers, and a huge tangle of wires.

"I got it hooked up to work again, and we kinda just started bringing in games regularly," he says.

On a bookshelf next to the TV, there are tons of games, all alphabetized and lined up neatly. For boys, they are pretty well-organized.

"Oh, oh, you need to check this out," Naruto calls me to the other side of the store. There's a merchandise shelf by the wall, with t-shirts, shoes, posters, lanyards, and a lot of other things, but unlike a store, there's only one of each shirt or lanyard.

"You see…, we kinda made our own stuff when we first started hanging out here. It seemed fitting 'cause it was a store, you know," Naruto explains.

"Cool."

I realize there's stuff almost everywhere. More t-shirts, wristbands, and a bunch of other stuff that they probably made.

"You guys really _could _have your own store. This is amazing."

"Thanks," they all say at the same time.

"Wait. How do you make all this stuff anyway?"

Kiba laughs, "Well… Let's show you that, too. Follow me."

He brings me to the very back of the room, behind the registers, past the restrooms… There's a door. He extends his arm, twists the knob, and pulls it open.

They push me into the room, which is pitch-black. "Uh… What is it?"

I hear someone flip a switch, and as light fills the room, I notice a sewing machine, label makers, stickers, permanent markers, colored and non-colored pencils, pens- almost everything you could see in a craft store or clothing warehouse.

"So when this place closed down… they just-so-happened to leave all their supplies, too…?"

"Yup!" Naruto answers.

"Wow."

"We just buy whatever additional paper, blank t-shirts, colored thread…whatever we need. All the tools and devices are already here."

"Seriously? And you guys like doing that?"

"Yup!" Naruto says again.

"You're like a bunch of girls…" I laugh. Guys who love arts and crafts. But at the same time, I find it pretty cool.

"Shut up," Shikamaru laughs a little, too.

"So what do you makes designs of, anyway?"

"Just random favorites… Like favorite bands, or video games, etcetera."

"Oh. Cool. I think other people would be into that. You guys should re-open this store."

"I wish. But if people found out we've been sneaking in here for the past two years, I'm pretty sure we'd get into trouble."

"Yeah… Hey, how'd you get in this place, anyway? Like…shouldn't a closed store be locked, or at least be renovated so it can be re-opened?"

Shikamaru walked around the room. He scratched his head. "Well, you see, this is kinda an undesirable area of the mall. Nobody really comes this far. So they closed this store… How we got in? Naruto picklocks the door."

I look at Naruto, who looks back at me with a proud smile.

"Master picklock, right here!"

I laugh again. This place…

"So… Could I… Maybe… Work on some stuff…, too?"

"Aha of course! Do whatever you want. The more the merrier…, something like that," Kiba says. "It'd be good to have a _decent _designer in here. But you know, we also have some awesome parties in this place, too."

"Invite anyone else?" I ask.

"Yep. Actually, not all of us are here… We're missing Lee. Sometimes Neji will join, too, but not too often."

"Okay."

We're all quiet for a while, then Naruto turns on the TV and starts setting up some action game.

"Shall we begin?" He asks.

"Uh, sorry bro, but um, I kinda need to get home," Shikamaru says. He's glancing at his phone… I try to peak at the screen, but all I see is an _'I'._

"Yeah…" Kiba and Choji start nodding in agreement. "Us too."

"Sorry, Naruto," I say apologetically.

"Nah. I don't care, but promise we'll have another late-night party again sometime this week. _Promise."_

"Okay, okay, we promise," Shikamaru smiles, then lifts the metal door again for us to get through.

"Bye, guys," I wave.

"Yeah, bye," they wave back as they walk back to the entrance.

_What am I gonna do now… _I look at my phone. _5 p.m., Aiko probably wants me home by now._

[…]

"Amaya-chan?" Aiko calls from the kitchen.

"Yeah, it's me.. Just got home."

"Come here!"

I walk to the kitchen and see her digging through the pantry.

"What do you wanna eat?" She asks.

"Actually, I'm not hungry…, sorry, I ate at the mall with Shikamaru and the others."

She looks at me and smiles, "Friends, I assume?"

"Yup."

"I'm glad. Had fun?"

"Yup."

"Good, now help me find something to eat."

We find more instant-ramen, beef, and uncooked rice.

"Remind me to go grocery shopping next time we're out."

"Will do," I say as I walk to my room.

I hop onto my bed, and scroll through my phone, but there's not much to look at. I hit the contacts button.

_Contacts:_

Aiko

Shikamaru Nara

_Shikamaru…? When did I get his number? _I try to think back to what I did today.

"_You don't have a phone?"_

"_I do, but… I don't really use it anymore, since there's no purpose, other than to call Aiko."_

"_Well, give me your phone real quick… and there you go."_

"_What did you do?" _I asked him.

"_Nothing."_

So he added his number to my phone. _I guess I could try to text him. _I push his name, then push "compose new message."

Compose New Text Message

To: Shikamaru Nara

_Hi._

I'm waiting for a reply… then _Beep! _New message.

New Text Message

From: Shikamaru Nara

_Uh… who is this?_

_He doesn't know?… Did he forget?_

_It's Amaya…_

And sending… _Beep! He replies quick…_

_Oh hey, aha I almost forgot. What's up?_

_Nothing really.. Just at home._

_Bored?_

_Yup._

_That sucks._

"Amaya! Need some help! Can you help me move the bed in my room, please?" Aiko calls, this time from her room.

"Yeah, give me a sec." I reply to Shikamaru's text.

_I gotta go…, Aiko needs some help so yeah._

And within seconds, I receive a reply:

_K. Haha, have fun._

I sprint over to Aiko's room, she's laying on her bed.

"I'm here…?"

She jumps up and runs to the opposite side, "Take that side and lift!"

I place my hands underneath the bed.

"Wait… Shouldn't we take the mattress off, first?" I ask.

"Uh… well, yes, actually…" She looks kinda embarrassed, but she lifts the mattress and lets it fall to the floor.

"Okay, we can start now." Aiko goes back to her side and places her hand underneath the bed again.

"One…two…three!" We both lift. "We need to put the bed down against the wall over there."

[…]

When we're done, I go back to my room, where my phone's screen is lit. _Did Shikamaru send something else? _I pick it up and check.

New Text Message

From: Number not in contacts

_Hey! It's Ino c; Just wondering when you're up for hanging out with us again :D_

I save her number into my contacts and reply:

Compose New Text Message

To: Ino

_I dunno yet, and I don't really mind. Whenever, I guess. You could ask Sakura…, or, just tell me whenever Hinata's free. I wanna meet her ._

Hanging out again… I'm glad to have new friends, but I'm not used to moving in between different groups of people. I just realized that my first group of friends here in Konoha is a group of all _boys, _and I'm _not _a boy. Maybe it would be good to hang out with some people of the same gender. _Beep! _Off goes my phone again.

New Text Message

From: Ino

_Alright! I've set the date for tomorrow. Mall-again! That place is the best ;D Hinata's coming, too. It's gonna be me, you, TenTen, Sakura, and Hinata! Gonna be a blast (x_

The mall again, tomorrow. _Fun. _I hope it'll be, I guess. I'm sending a text back, and hopefully, that'll be the last for tonight:

Compose New Text Message

To: Ino

_I'm in c:_


	5. Hinata

Konoha High

5 - Hinata

_Ino Yamanaka_

New Text Message

From: Amaya

_I'm in c:_

She's in! Mall. Tomorrow. Definitely going to be interesting. Amaya seems pretty cool, but she's pretty quiet. When I met her, she was with Naruto and his friends. The only girl with them, actually. Maybe she likes one of them!

Compose New Text Message

To: Amaya

_Okay! 1 o'clock in the afternoon, k? (x And who knows what time we'll finish? O:_

I flip my phone shut. If she likes one of them, I'm definitely finding out. I might even try to set them up… But I'm just looking forward to hanging out with her tomorrow. Sometimes I get tired of hanging out with the same people over and over, even if they're my friends, so having a new person with us is always a nice change, unless they're annoying..

[…]

I wake up a little before noon. My laptop's sitting next to me on my bed, upside down. Last night I must've fallen asleep watching some shows again.

_Wait… _I think, _It's almost noon! _I have around an hour and ten minutes or so to get ready.

I start by walking to the bathroom and washing my face, then I go back to my room. It always takes the longest to pick an outfit… It's winter, so I need something to keep me warm, but I can't just wear an oversized jacket and jeans- that's just…_ew. _

After digging through my closet for a couple of minutes, I have found three different long-sleeved blouses, two pairs of pants, a skirt, and four cardigans. I think I'll wear the white blouse with colorful floral prints on it, with the black ruffled skirt and a black long-sleeved cardigan.

I know it's winter, but this outfit is just…_kawaii! _I'll just put on black leggings and a light-pink scarf. I'll wear almost-knee-length brown leather boots, too. _Outfit complete. P-e-r-f-e-c-t!_

Now to start walking to the mall! I grab my brown shoulder bag (they match my boots,) and walk through the door.

_Sakura Haruno_

When I get to the mall, (hurriedly dressed in a red long-sleeved t-shirt and jeans,) I search for Ino and TenTen. Hinata should be with them, too. I know Amaya's coming, but I don't expect her to be with them because she doesn't know all our meet-up spots.

"Sakura, over here!" I turn around and see Ino and TenTen waiting by the entrance. _How did I miss them? _

"Oh, hey, why are you waiting here? Not the food court, or like, the fountain?" I ask.

"Because Amaya doesn't know that we usually wait there," she answers.

"Then why didn't you just tell her that when you texted her last night?"

"I forgot, okay?!" She glances at the doorway and her face brightens. "Amaya!"

I don't know why she's so excited, I mean, I'm glad Amaya's with us, but I don't think it's something to get _that _excited about.

"Um… Hi," Amaya mutters. Her outfit isn't much: A black elbow-length cardigan over white t-shirt, tucked into blue skinny jeans. Gray Converse. Gray scarf. Black cross body bag. Phone in hand. Simple clothing, but somehow, she makes it…_work._

"Hey!" I smile at her and wave. She smiles back.

"So…what do we do?" She asks.

Ino looks like she's about to say something, but I interrupt her anyway; "Well first of all, I think we should show you the usual spots we meet up at."

Ino angrily glances at me for a millisecond then smiles back, wider, at Amaya, "Yeah, _totally! _We'll do that!" It's _so obvious _to see how hard she's trying to make a good impression of herself on her. Dressing all cute, (well, I guess she always does…) trying to attract all attention to herself once Amaya turns to someone else… _Ugh, Ino! Stop being such an attention whore!_

We walk to the cafeteria, Ino talking to Amaya the whole time, probably telling her a bunch of random crap about herself.

But looking at Amaya, the way she looks, the way she acts, the way she seems so quiet and calm… I can understand why someone would wanna impress her. She's cool…, but not in a conceited, vain, or self-centered way.

"_Sakura!" _I'm pushed out of the way of a group of teenagers walking through the cafeteria entrance. Despite how large the entrance actually is, I was too caught up thinking about Amaya and Ino to notice that I was walking straight into another group of people.

"Sorry," Amaya apologizes to them. They walk away, smiling back and waving saying it's alright.

"Sorry…, I got distracted."

Amaya stares at me for a moment. "Oh. Right. Nah, it's no problem, really."

"Uh, thanks."

Even though I do feel really awkward talking to her after the stuff I just thought, I also feel…_at ease, _when she's talking to me. _What is it about her?…_

_Ino Yamanaka_

Sakura almost walked into a group of high school kids from a different school than we go to. And Amaya just pushed her out of the way. _Sheesh, _did she do that on purpose or something?! Like, seriously, what the heck! I was talking to her and we were having a nice conversation, but like the attention hog Sakura is, I guess she just _had _to go walking into other people to get herself saved by Amaya! That is _so. Low. _

Well, we're sitting down in the cafeteria now, at the table closest to the exit that leads to the fountain. Amaya wears a small, (probably _fake,) _smile on her face as she "listens" to Sakura blab on and on about school and other boring crap.

"Uh…, H-Hi," says a small voice from behind me.

_Amaya Shimizu_

"Uh…, H-Hi."

Ino turns around to see who said it- a girl with light skin, light blue (almost white, even,) eyes, and long, straight black hair, with a bluish tint, bangs cut straight across her face. She wears an outfit that consists of a blue blouse with a white floral design on the side, a white button-up hoodie, a striped scarf with different shades of blue and gray, light blue jeans, and white Converse. She's pretty, and seems really shy as she blushes and tries to say something to me.

"Hello, I'm Hinata Hyuga." She smiles and extends her arm to me, which I gladly shake.

"And I would be Amaya."

Ino points to a seat next to her so Hinata can sit down.

"Sorry I'm late," she says as she scoots her chair into the table. "I was busy at home."

"Oh. I'm sorry if I forced you to come. I didn't know you'd be busy…," I tell her.

Hinata shakes her head, "No, it's okay, I wanted to come."

"Okay…, so what are we going to do?" I turn and ask Ino.

"Uhh, go shopping? Like…, _duh." _

_Shopping, huh? Maybe I should start shopping for Spring clothes._

"So where are we going to shop?"

"Probably…, Konoha's Hot Topic, or Hidden Leaf Fashions, or… Well they have a store supplying old ninja tools and combat outfits, it's themed like, 'Konoha during war; twenty years ago or so.' You know Lee? Rock Lee?"

"Uh… Yeah…?"

"He and his uncle"-air quotes around the word "uncle"- "Own and run that shop. They were really into those days…, and his uncle, Might Guy, kinda just encourages him to like it, too. They're so weird."

I nod, and we just sit in silence for a while.

Sakura stands up. "I'm gonna go get some ice cream," she says, "Anyone else want some?"

Ino stands, too. "Okay! Tell me what flavors you guys want. It's on me."

"I'll take cotton candy with chocolate shavings or hot fudge," I say.

"Okay, I guess I'll have strawberry cheesecake," Hinata tells her.

TenTen, who has been unusually quiet, raises her hand, "I think I'll take rocky road."

[…]

Sakura and Ino return with five bowls of ice cream and distribute them among us. We all thank them and begin eating.

"I should mention before we go anywhere else," Ino says, "If we split up to go to different shops or something, we meet up here or at the fountain, basically _always. _But we call or text first, k?"

"Alright."

"So like… Can I see your phone real quick? I need to uh…, check the time."

I hold out my phone, "But don't you have your own?" She doesn't say anything, and quickly snatches it from my hand.

"Got it! Okay…" _Bleep. Boop. Beep. Beep. _She's typing something into it, then passes it to Hinata, who types something else, then passes it to Sakura, who passes it to TenTen.

"Sheesh, what did you do to my phone?" I ask.

"Nothing…" She giggles.

"Okay then." I remember what Shikamaru did to my phone. "Let me confirm that."

I open the contacts list and scroll through it…

_Contacts:_

_Aiko_

_Hinata Hyuga_

_Ino Yamanaka ^o^_

_Sakura Haruno :D_

_Shikamaru Nara_

_TenTen c; _

"Dude. You've filled my contacts list…"

"Oh really? How many contacts do you have now?" TenTen asks.

"Uh… Six."

"Are you kidding me?!" Ino's mouth seems to hang open for a second. "That's nothing! Seriously, didn't you have any other friends at your old school?"

"No…"

"Well… That's why we're here," Hinata softly adds.

I smile, "Thanks. So wait… Ino, how did you get my number again?…" I never considered it until now.

"Oh! I stole Shikamaru's phone the other day and so I kinda stole it from there. I don't think he noticed."

"Ah…, okay, so where are we gonna go?" I hold out my empty bowl of ice cream.

"Hold on! I'm like halfway done!" Sakura shouts.

TenTen elbows her. "Slow poke!"

[…]

_Sakura Haruno_

I throw away my bowl and ask Amaya, "So what store do you wanna check out first?"

She's looking around, then points to one that's right across from the table we're sitting at.

"_That one?" _I ask, trying not to sound too harsh.

"Are you _sure? _That's the one we were talking about earlier," Ino adds. Amaya nods anyway.

"Why?" I ask, but before she answers, she starts walking towards it.

_Amaya Shimizu_

They keep questioning my choice of a store, but they're the ones to asked me, right? TenTen and Hinata are the only ones who don't make me feel like I'm being criticized for everything I do. Hinata's been quiet…, I wish she would talk more. I wanna know about her; she seems so gentle and kind, but so shy.

The store's sign reads _"Shinobi: Tools & Attire". _This is definitely the store they were talking about. I picked this store because: 1) I wanted to see how Ino and Sakura would react if I went into a store they didn't recommend, and 2) I kinda have a knack for all the "Ancient Shinobi" stuff.

"Hello, ma'am!" A boy wearing a green vest over a green shirt and green pants shouts from the register. Within two seconds, he's standing in front of me with a questionable expression on his face.

"Don't I know you?"

"Yeah. I'm Amaya…, I go to your school."

"Ohh, yeah. Okay, well welcome! Take your time looking around, friend."

_Friend? _I don't dislike him or anything, but does he really think we're already friends?

"_Calm it, _Lee." Ino is standing beside me now, glaring at him. "Amaya like, barely knows you, so um, you know, back off with the whole 'friend' thing, yeah?"

"I-It's fine, Ino, he's just being polite," Hinata spoke up.

"Yeah, Ino, it's okay I guess. I'm just.. Gonna.. Look around now."

I walk between the shelves of clothing. Fish-net leggings and undershirts, normal knee-length black leggings, ninja tool-belt. I pick up a black kimono- it's knee-length and its sleeves are short. It's lined with yellow. I like it.

"Do you like it?" Hinata asks.

"Yeah…"

She smiles. "I can buy it for you."

I shake my head. "No, no. It's okay, I can afford it."

"It's a gift," she takes it from my hands, then brings it to the register, along with other things I can't really distinguish. Hinata hands Lee money, and Lee happily takes the clothing, but doesn't place it in a bag. Instead, he takes it through a door behind the register.

He comes back with the items in a bag, which is odd, because there are clearly a dozen of plastic bags hanging near the register. "Thank you! Have a nice day, and uh see you at school I guess."

Hinata takes the bag and hands it to me. "Don't look until you get home."

[…]

"What are you looking at, _now?" _Ino asks. I'm looking at a shelf in the store _Hidden Leaf Fashions, _it's lined with colored knit- scarves. I pick up a pretty navy-ish/lavender color.

"Well, it _is _winter…, but I have plenty of scarves."

"Then don't buy it." Ino grabs my arm and tries to drag me off to a different area of the store, but I shake her off dismissively.

"Wait…, I'm not done with this area." Ino sighs, annoyed, but I don't care. She and Sakura have been dragging me around all day, and the only thing I've had any say in was Lee's shop.

I look over and see Hinata looking at a rack of blouses.

"That one looks nice," I say and point to one that seems to have caught her eye.

"Yeah…," she smiles, "But did you find anything you like?"

"Eh…"

"Oh hey, I'll be back soon. You can keep looking," she starts walking through the store's entrance, "I'm just going to the restroom."

The blouse Hinata was looking at really _was _nice. Its sleeves were elbow-length, and it was flowy with a white and lavender lacy floral design. I think I'll buy it for her…, as thanks for buying something for me.

I'm walking to the register, but then I see more accessories. A navy-blue beanie, the scarf I was looking at, and a simple purple-and-blue beaded bracelet are placed on the counter along with the blouse.

"Do you mind wrapping it?" I ask.

The clerk takes out a box, wrapping paper, and ribbons and starts placing the items inside. "Christmas present, huh?" She smiles. "Cute outfit. You're friend will love it!" She's about to place the lid on the box, then asks, "Did you want a gift receipt in there?"

…Maybe I should get one. _What if she doesn't like it? I mean, she likes the blouse…, but maybe it's weird for someone she's barely met to buy her a Christmas present!_

"Yeah, but just let me keep it."

"Alright!" The process is over within ten seconds: she swiftly smacks the lid onto the box, wraps it, and tops it off with a big blue ribbon.

"Thanks and have a nice day!" She shouts as I walk through the entrance holding a red plastic bag to hide the present.

"Hey! Amaya!" Sakura screams from behind me. "Did you forget about us?"

_Actually…, yes._

"What did you get?" She asks as Ino walks to us and looks at me for the answer, too.

"Just…, that scarf."

Ino rolls her eyes.

"Sorry! There was a line for the restroom…" Hinata runs toward us, but she takes a glance at the red bag in my hand and her face brightens. "You found something!"

"Uh…, yeah. Just some winter stuff."

She still seemed happy for me though.

[…]

Shopping with Ino and Sakura is so exhausting. I'm glad to finally be home.

I haven't given Hinata her gift yet, and I haven't opened mine either, but I should already know what it is. I take both plastic bags to my room and shake out the contents of the one from Lee's shop onto my bed.

The kimono is now spread out on the bed, along with a yellow belt, fishnet leggings and an undershirt, and a pack of colored headbands, bows, and ribbons. _Hinata made it an outfit, too._

Considering the fact that I only met her today, this is really kind of her. _Hinata, huh?… I wanna get to know her better._


	6. All Together

Konoha High

6 - All Together

_Amaya Shimizu_

"Amaya!" Aiko's voice. Why is she screaming at me this early in the morning?

I rub my eyes. "What?" I mumble. Aiko walks into my room, my phone in her hand.

"It's been ringing all morning and it's driving me insane!" She tosses it onto my bed. "Who is it, anyways?"

I flip my phone open:

Shikamaru Nara

_(4) Missed calls_

Aiko is still looking at me expectantly, waiting for an answer. I sigh, "My friend Shikamaru. I don't even know why he's calling me right now…"

"Well you should definitely call back! It's rude not to respond. Anyway, I'm going to the grocery store to buy some ingredients for tonight's dinner. You need anything?"

"Bring some Ramune Soda and boxes of juice."

"Flavors?"

"I don't care. Pick anything. But if you can buy more than three, could you please give the flavors some variety?"

"Sure. Well…, I'll be off. See ya."

"Thanks. Bye."

I dunno what I should do… Call Shikamaru back? Yeah…, I think I should.

_Shikamaru Nara_

_Dialing…_

_Ring… Ring… Click!_

"_Hello?"_

"Shikamaru? Hey it's Amaya. You called earlier…?"

"_Oh, yeah! Uh…, well the guys are planning to meet up this afternoon. So just wondering if you're free today to join us."_

"Of course, of course. What time were you planning to meet up? And where?"

"_Well for now we're not sure what we're gonna do yet, but we'll just meet everyone in front of the high school. And I say around… 1 o'clock?"_

"Sure. Well, see you there. Thanks for inviting me."

"_Bye."_

_One o'clock?… _I check the time on my phone. 9 a.m. Plenty of time to get ready. But…

_How am I supposed to dress if I don't know what we're doing? What's the weather like? Guess I'll check… It's just gonna be the guys, right? I don't have to be so dressy then, I guess. But what if someone else we know bumps into us? Hmm…_

I dig through my closet and throw whatever seems suitable onto my bed. When I'm done, I examine the pile of clothing;

A beige button-up jacket. _I guess that works. Seems cold outside, anyway._

A white blouse, all frilly in the front. _Well I have to wear _something _underneath, right? And I should look presentable._

A black knee-length skirt. _I'll just wear shorts underneath._

I grab black knee-length socks and my gray Converse, then wrap a black and white plaid scarf around my neck. When I get to the bathroom, I look at my reflection. _Well I guess this is it. Am I _too _dressy for just hanging out with friends? No… I'm fine. I don't wanna change again._

I think I put this outfit together too hastily…, I mean, I literally just convinced myself that the first things I grabbed from the pile were fine. But…, it's okay. I still have a lot of time, though. _What else can I do?… _I've never worn make-up- I don't think I feel like starting now. _I guess I'll just…brush my hair?_

My hair is long, brown, and straight. Very easy to brush. Very convenient. But right now, I need something to do. Something to kill time…

_Curl it, _says a little voice in my head. Where the heck did that come from? _Come on, you have new friends now. You have a reason, and you have a lot of time to kill._

_Ugh. _A reminder of what a loner I was in Kiriga. Sure, I had some friends, but I never really stuck around for long. My friends would always change, and not in a good way. Whatever. So what was I doing again?

_Oh yeah… Curling my hair. _I guess I never really planned making new friends so quickly. I never really thought about how I'm supposed to be around these people. How I'm supposed to talk, how I'm supposed to react, etc…

_Ouch…_ My finger just made contact with the curling iron. I'm not really good at these things.

[…]

An hour has passed, and I've finally perfected my hair. I don't think I've ever spent more time doing any single thing in my life. Usually, I'd think things like fixing your hair and applying make-up are just a waste of time, but this is an exception, since I had plenty of time.

It's 12 o'clock now, so I think I should start walking to the school.

[…]

New Text Message

From: Shikamaru Nara

Turn around.

I'm at the school now, just waiting for everyone else. As the message instructed, I turn around to see Shikamaru standing behind me on the stairs.

"Oh. Hey."

"Hey? You're not surprised?" He asks.

"Nah."

He looks disappointed, but laughs. "So why are you always early?"

"Because I'm not really busy…, and it's better than being late."

"Makes sense." He looks over me and waves. "Hey, Naruto!" Naruto notices us and waves back.

"Yo, Shikamaru, Amaya." He and Shikamaru start talking to each other.

"Shikamaru! Naruto!" Choji is walking toward us, with Kiba right behind. As soon as Kiba sees me, his smile disappears and his face turns red.

"Whoa…" He points at me. "I didn't know you were like that."

"Like what?" I ask.

"Now that you mention it…" Shikamaru scratches his head, "You look different." He _just_ noticed?

"Look, look. She curled her hair!"

"Yeah, that's weird, I guess."

I can feel my cheeks burning. "What, is there something wrong with it? I can go back home and-"

"No haha, it's fine," Shikamaru's laughing. "I didn't know you would get so self-conscious."

"Well, it's been a while…" I began.

Naruto raised an eyebrow, "Since what?" He asked.

"…since I've made any new friends." Surprisingly, he's not frowning or anything. He's just…_smiling._

"You don't think that's weird? Or that _I'm _weird?" I ask.

They all burst out laughing. "Of course you're weird." Is that an insult?

"We're _all_ weird," Choji added, "So that means you fit right in."

_So I fit in?_

[…]

"So it's just us five?" I ask.

"For now. Later, Lee and Neji might join us," Kiba answers. "We've decided to go to that karaoke place."

"Uhh…okay."

When we get to the karaoke place, I follow the guys into one of the rooms.

"Can you get us five bottles of Ramune?" Kiba asks the employee, then looks at me. "Wait, Amaya, do you like Ramune?" I nod. "Okay yeah. Five bottles of Ramune! Uh…Melon flavor."

"Don't forget chicken wings," Choji says. The guy scribbles all of this into a small spiral notebook then closes the door behind him as he leaves.

"I'm singing first!" Naruto shouts.

"I've never seen guys so eager to sing," I comment. They all stare at me. "I mean… I might've seen-"

"We just do this as a joke," Shikamaru says. "It's funny to watch the other guys fail."

"Come to think of it…" Kiba smirks, "I don't think we've ever heard _you _sing yet, Shikamaru."

"Guys-"

"Shikamaru goes first!" Naruto shoves the microphone into his hand and tosses the songbook at him.

"Ugh… this is so troublesome," Shikamaru groans.

I stand up. "I think I'm going to go to the restroom for a sec."

"K, come back quick so you get to hear Shikamaru fail!"

[…]

I wash my hands then dry them with a paper towel. I can hear laughter while walking back to our room. It's coming from room 4; two rooms away from us. _I'll just take a quick peek… _I open the door just a little bit, so I can see the back of someone sitting close it. She has really light hair…almost white, tied in a long ponytail.

_Ino? _She stands up to reveal a girl with pink hair holding the microphone. _And Sakura. _Then I hear a girl with a soft voice, "Sakura-chan, you're good! Ino, you too!" _Hinata._

"Haha, c'mon, you're good, too, Hinata." _TenTen. _All the girls are here?

"Yeah, I wonder if _Amaya _is good!" Shouts Ino, then I see an eye staring right back at me through the little crack. I back up. The door opens wider.

"Amaya, you creeper!" Ino laughs, then Sakura turns and sees me.

"Oh, hey! I didn't know you liked karaoke."

"The guys dragged me here…"

They laugh, then TenTen says, "They're here, too?" I nod.

We're just sitting here awkwardly now. I hear someone walking down the hall, but instead of continuing to the bathroom, Kiba walks into the room.

"So this is where you were!" He shouts, then he notices the other girls. "Uh…, hey." He scratches the back of his head.

"So you guys are all here?" Ino smirks.

"Yeah, whatever, if you don't mind, I'm gonna take Amaya _back."_

"No! Amaya is staying with _us." _Ino pulls my arm.

"Well…, I was originally with them," I apologize, but Ino continues to hold my arm.

"I have an idea though! Why don't you guys come into this room? We'll pay."

"Good idea…" Kiba just doesn't wanna pay. "Let me go get the rest of them."

I hear some complaints from Choji and Shikamaru, while Naruto sounds somewhat happy about the change of plans. Then, footsteps coming down the hallway and they're at the door, walking inside the room.

"Yo!" Naruto smiles big and takes a seat in between Hinata, whose face turns red, and Sakura, who glares at him and scoots a bit to her right. _I've never really seen what those two are like together. So Naruto likes her, but she likes Sasuke?_

_Sasuke… _I remember how coldly he acted when we went to get my books from the office. He caught me when I fell, but instead of saying things like, "Are you okay?" or "No problem," just _"Be more careful". Jerk. _Why do people even like him so much?

"Hey, Amaya, why don't you sing something?" Ino suggests. I just shake my head and apologize.

"Hinata?" Hinata does the same.

"Sorry, sorry. I don't think I'm so good at singing."

"_I'll _sing." Naruto takes the microphone and sets a foot on the table, posing with his arm rested on his knee. Sakura rolls her eyes. Naruto looks through the songbook more, while occasionally nodding or shaking his head. Finally, he looks up. "Got it!" He enters the numbers. "3...5...7...Oops, I mean six…"

While Naruto punches in more numbers, Sakura scoots closer to me. "Amaya! Been a while!"

"If that's what you consider thirteen to fourteen hours or so, then yeah, it's been a while."

"Haha! Well…, ugh, Naruto is actually singing. He's so annoying, right?!"

"…I haven't known him long, but I consider him a friend."

She stops smiling, "I was just joking, no need to get defensive."

"I know. I think I'm gonna go get more Ramune." I stand up.

"I'll come with you," she stands, too. We walk outside, and as we leave I can see Kiba takes the now-empty seat next Hinata.

Sakura asks the guy at the counter for more Ramune. "About four more bottles, please." He comes out with two bottles in each hand, then hands them to me and pushes some keys on the register. I give him the money and take the Ramune.

"Thanks," I say to the employee, then to Sakura, "I think I'm going to stay out here for a while."

"I can stay with you." I just shrug and sit on one of the stools at the counter.

"So," she hops on the seat next to me, "Why do you seem so eager to be alone right now?"

"It's just how I am. I haven't had friends in a long time, so this is kinda… _overwhelming."_

"Well that makes sense, but you seem pretty calm about everything. Cool, even. Why haven't you had friends? If you don't mind me asking."

"…People are kinda overdramatic, unreliable, disloyal, or jerks who can be just plain irritating."

"That sounds pretty harsh, on your part."

"Yeah, but sometimes it's true. I've seen it happen, and I was pretty scared to have it happen to me, so I isolated myself from people I thought would eventually abandon me. Getting too attached or placing too much trust into the wrong people is a bad idea. It's either they use you, or they get tired of you…, but in the end, they leave you. You're left disappointed and hurt…, all because you got too attached."

"So this happened to you? You had no friends?" _So straightforward._

"Well…, I honestly can't say that I've experienced it so much. I just remember experiencing _other _people going through that. It seemed…_painful…_and I didn't want it to happen to me. But I had one friend. I really regret leaving Kiriga the way I did. It felt really hard to say good-bye, so in the end, I didn't. I just left."

Sakura stares at the ground for a while. "So I can see why you seemed a bit defensive of Naruto. You're really trying to make things work with these new friends, right?"

"Yup…"

"Well we're not the kind of people to abandon our _friends_ so easily." She smiles, gets up, and starts walking back. "Well c'mon, our friends are waiting for us!"

_Hinata Hyuga_

When we finish with karaoke, we all start walking back home. For a while, we're all in a big group, but then one or two people would separate and walk towards their own homes. In the end, I was left with Amaya.

"I don't understand why everybody likes Sasuke," Amaya mutters. "I mean…, Sakura, and so many other girls at our school seem too interested in him, but he's pretty cruel."

I nod. "I do understand that they probably find him attractive…, but I'm not interested in Sasuke."

"Oh?" Amaya raises an eyebrow. "Then who _are _you interested in, Hinata-_chan_?" She nudges me.

"Well…, I would rather not talk about it…" I can feel my cheeks burning. "Anyway…, I'm sorry to bring this up, but Sakura told me what you talked about before you brought back all the Ramune."

"Yup," she's just looking up at the sky and walking slowly.

"Well I just wanted you to know that what Sakura told you is true. W-we're not the type to abandon our friends, and I hope you can place your trust in us… We want you to feel comfortable around us, o-okay?"

She nods. "I know." She smiles and turns to look at me. "I'm glad that I met you…Naruto…Shikamaru, Kiba…Sakura… You made it so easy for me, being new to this village and school. _Thank you."_

"N-no problem."

I feel a hand settle on my shoulder. "Hinata-sama?" _Neji-nii-san? _I look at Amaya, who's looking at who's behind me. When I turn around, it _is _Neji.

"It's time to go home. And my I ask you one more thing?" He says, then glares at Amaya. "Who is _this?" _I catch a glimpse of him slowly inching out his kunai…

"N-Neji-nii-san, th-this is Amaya-chan." I cover the knife with my hand and quickly push it back into his sleeve. I whisper to him, "She's a friend, you don't need to worry."

Neji smiles, (though I know him well enough to know he's faking,) and places his hand out. "I am Neji Hyuga, Hinata-sama's cousin."

"The guys mentioned you possibly coming to go to karaoke with us, I think. Well hey, I'm Amaya Shimizu." She shakes his hand.

"A transfer student?"

Amaya nods, and turns to me. "Well I think I should get home before Aiko-chan gets worried. Thanks for today, Hinata-chan. Bye!" She says as she walks away, leaving me with Neji.

"Good job, encouraging her," he says. "I heard the whole thing. You don't usually do that."

"Y-You heard the whole thing?… Well, she's had a difficult time with other people in the past, I figured it would be good to help her out."

"Mm… Well we should be getting home, Hinata-sama. Let's go." He starts walking, then slows down to let me catch up.

While we walk, I look up, and immediately notice why Amaya was so intrigued just looking up at the sky. The stars are shining so brightly…

"What?" Neji asks me.

"Huh?"  
"You look like there's something on your mind."

"Oh, no," I laugh, "I was just admiring the stars."

He looks up, too. "Oh…" We stand there for a minute, just staring at the sky. "Wow."

"Well, we should really get home now, huh, Neji-nii-san?" I start walking ahead, and he catches up quickly.

I really hope we can all get together like we did today again, soon.


	7. Christmas

Konoha High

7 - Christmas

_Amaya Shimizu_

New Text Message

From: Ino Yamanaka ^o^

_Merry Christmas! There's a party at Hinata's, and you're definitely coming._

New Text Message

From: Sakura Haruno :D

_Hey! You're invited to Hinata's house for a Christmas party. Hope you can make it!_

New Text Message

From: Hinata Hyuga

_Merry Christmas, Amaya-chan! There's a Christmas party at my house, I hope you can make it. If you have any gifts to give any of us, please do bring them. We'll have a small gift exchange (:_

New Text Message

From: Shikamaru Nara

_Merry Christmas. Are you going to the party at Hinata's house later?_

This may have been the most text messages I've gotten at 10 in the morning.

Compose New Text Message

To: Hinata Hyuga, Sakura Haruno :D , Ino _Yamanaka ^o^_

_Merry Christmas to you, too! I'll go to the party (: What time is it though?_

Compose New Text Message

To: Shikamaru Nara

_I'm going . See you there, and Merry Christmas :D_

"Aiko-nee-chan! Merry Christmas!" I shout to her. I'm pretty sure she's awake, since she has this habit of getting up early, even on the days we have no school.

"Morning, and merry Christmas! Come to the kitchen, I made breakfast!" She shouts back.

I jog to the kitchen and take a seat in front of Aiko. She has bacon, eggs, and pancakes with powdered sugar and red-and-green sprinkles all over. "Enjoy!"

"Thanks, Aiko. Itadakimasu!" We both clap twice.

After taking one bite, my phone starts ringing.

"Hello?"

"_A-Amaya-chan! It's Hinata, I just called to say that you can come over at around 5 this afternoon. Glad you can make it!"_

"Of course, no problem. I'll try to get there on time, but I'm just telling you in advance that I may be early."

"_O-okay, that's fine. W-well, bye for now! Merry Christmas!"_

"Merry Christmas!" She hangs up, and I continue eating.

"Who was it?" Aiko asks without looking up from her food.

"My friend Hinata. She's throwing a Christmas party."

"So you're going? That's great! What time is it going to start?"

"Five. Do you wanna come?"

"I'll see… But did you get everyone presents?"

"…Just Hinata-chan."

Aiko rapidly finishes her food and sticks the dishes into the sink. "Well hurry up! Get ready, you need to buy gifts for your friends, or they'll be offended that you only got one for Hinata!"

"I-I know! But I have like 6 hours, no rush."

"But the mall is so full on Christmas! Not everybody will be out to celebrate and they have _really _good discounts at this time, so hurry! I don't wanna get there when it's gonna be crowded."

I finish my breakfast and get dressed. Aiko and I walk to the mall, talking about what each person would want.

"Okay, so you already got something for Hinata. What about…Ino, Sakura, and TenTen? Girls first, they should be easier since they're your gender…if that makes sense."

"I think… they would all appreciate something as simple as makeup or gift cards."

"Um…, okay. Well won't they be somewhat offended to see Hinata got something more personal?"

"Yeah maybe… Gift cards aren't gonna be enough. Maybe just scarves? Like Hinata got."

"Sure. Now what about the guys? I don't know all of their names."

"Um… Kiba-kun, Shikamaru-kun, Naruto-san, Choji-san, Neji-san… I think they'd be fine with money."

"You sure? I can't really tell. I don't have a lot of friends that are boys."

"Yeah. Or treat them to Ichiraku ramen."

She just nods as we step through the mall's entrance. "Let's go get the scarves."

[…]

"So choose the color's you think they'd like."

As I pick them up, I tell my sister. "Red for Sakura; Purple for Ino; White for TenTen."

"Alright! Here, I'll pay half." She hands me the money and I walk to the register.

"Would you like me to wrap these for you, ma'am?" The cashier asks. I nod, so he places them in small boxes and begins wrapping. When he's finished, he hands them to me with my change. "Have a day," he says as we leave.

"Now for the boys… I'll bring them all to Ichiraku…, and that's it I think."

"Well okay," says Aiko. "Let's go home so you can get ready for the party."

It's only 12 in the afternoon, but I get out some formal clothes and let Aiko curl my hair again.

"Take a look," she turns me so I face a mirror. "Did I do okay?"

"Yeah, thanks nee-chan." She did really well. My hair has been curled and I'm wearing a flowy midnight blue blouse with a black skirt, plus black stockings underneath, and black flats.

"Here," Aiko gives me a large plastic bag, which she placed all the gifts in. "Now… You think Hinata will let you go early so you can help her out setting up?"

"I can call…, but I'm four hours early _still."_

"Well it takes a while, you know; preparing food, setting up the decorations, tidying up…"

"Fine, fine." I dial Hinata's number.

_Ring, ring…_

"_Hello? Amaya-chan?"_

"Hi Hinata, do you mind if I come early? I don't mind helping you out with the set up."

"_Of course you can. T-Thank you Amaya-chan. It was getting to be a bit too much for Neji and me to handle…"_

"No problem, I'll be there in a few minutes."

I throw on a long-sleeved, cream-colored cardigan and a red scarf as I walk through the door.

[…]

The walk to Hinata's house is slow and gentle, but the weather has gotten worse. Snow is falling now, and I'm still about ten minutes away from Hinata's, though I left twenty minutes ago. Usually, it would talk me around 15-20 minutes to walk there, but this snow has already delayed me.

The wind is whipping my face harshly, but I try to ignore it so I can keep a reasonable pace. I pull my scarf over face and bury my hands within the sleeves of my cardigan. My flats are soaked with melted snow. I really hope I don't get sick.

"Hey, Amaya!" _Who is that? _

"Amaya, over here!"

It's Kiba, calling through the mild snow storm. He's wearing an unbuttoned gray jacket with a fur-rimmed hood over a black t-shirt. And is that a bow-tie I see around his neck? I can't really tell from this distance.

"Oh, hey!" I yell back. I start slowing down so he can walk with me. "I-It's pretty damn cold right now," I say, my teeth chattering slightly.

"Eh, this isn't much to me, but _you, _on the other hand, look horrible."

"Thanks for that, Kiba."

We don't say anything for a few seconds, so I decide to speak:

"Seriously though, I have been walking for like, thirty minutes already. This snow is insane."

"You should of came prepared. Are you tired of walking yet?"

"Kinda."

"Here-" he bends down, "-You can get on my back."

"Are you sure?" I ask. I think my cheeks are actually getting warmer- and more red, too.

"Yeah, go ahead."

I hop on and let Kiba place his arms around my thighs, while I place mine around his neck. We walk through the snow storm like this for five minutes before reaching Hinata's front door.

I jump down. "Thanks, Kiba. I really needed a break."

"No problem. You're pretty light, so it was nothing, really."

I knock on the door, and soon Hinata opens it with a warm smile on her face.

"Hey, thanks for helping out." She looks at me, then Kiba. "Kiba-kun? I didn't know you'd show up this early, too."

He scratches the back of his head, "I thought the snow would slow me down, so I started walking pretty early."

Hinata looks past us, out at the storm. Her eyes widen. "I didn't know it would be _this _bad! Should I call everyone else and cancel?"

"Nahh," Kiba shakes his head. "They'll be more disappointed than you are."

"O-Okay.., well let me take your coats." She places them in a closet near the front door.

"So, what do you need help with?" I ask.

"Umm.. Here, could you lay out-" she walks away from the door and is back within five seconds with a tray of food, "-this food? Here, come in." She backs away from the door again so that we can enter, then leads us to an area further into the house.

It's pretty big, with a long table against the wall, a TV against another wall, a few couches and chairs, a fridge, and the Christmas tree, with its red-blue-green-yellow-white lights, and a bright, transparent glass star at the top.

"Okay… so the food can just be laid out on this table," she gestures towards the one against the wall. "And I'll be hanging up some more decorations."

"I'll help you decorate," Kiba offers.

"Thanks, Kiba-kun. Here, Amaya." She hands me the tray filled with onigiri and shrimp tempura and walks off into a different room with Kiba.

_Hinata Hyuga_

I lead Kiba to a hallway in my house with a string hanging from the ceiling. He pulls on it and a part of the ceiling drops a bit to reveal an entrance to the attic, along with a ladder leading up to it.

I climb the ladder, and Kiba follows along. When we're up, Kiba looks around.

"You've changed it again?"

I nod. Of course he notices; he's been to my house pretty often. The attic also happens to be my room. Its spacey, with my bed against a wall next to my bookshelf, and my dresser on another wall. Four other doors line the wall next to this first door we came through. One leads to the bathroom, another to my closet, the third to my office-ish area, and the last one is the storage room.

I head for the last door and open it, revealing plenty of Christmas décor, extra furniture, and other random items scattered around.

"Kiba, help me lift this box." I start sliding it off of the shelf. He stands next to me and takes the other side as it falls off. We walk it towards the door that leads downstairs, and he lets go to climb down the ladder.

I push the box through the door and let Kiba catch the other side again, then we start walking to where Amaya is.

Amaya is arranging the food on the table as we carefully walk past, trying not to hit her or the table. When we set the box down, I take the ladder I dropped (just after I heard the knock on the door) by the wall and prop it up again.

"Kiba-kun, you can just hand me the decorations while I stand on the ladder."

"K."

I climb it and look down at Kiba, who is lifting the flaps of the box. I point to some red streamers, and he takes it out of the box to give them to me. Using the tacks I placed in the pockets of my sweatshirt earlier, I attach them to the wall.

"Here." I didn't even ask, but Kiba hands me green streamers when I finish placing on the red ones.

"Thanks." I intertwine the red and green streamers before pinning the green ones to the wall. "I think it looks alright so far." I climb back down the ladder.

"We still have over two hours before the party actually starts, so no hurry," Amaya calls from the table.

"Yeah. Kiba, lets move onto that wall."

[…]

_Finally finished with the wall decorations, _I think. _Now we should start working on-_

"The tree?" My thoughts are interrupted but at the same time completed by Kiba-kun.

"Yeah, let's start working on the tree."

We take some cream and red-colored ribbons then start wrapping them around the tree. Amaya comes by with some gold-colored ornaments and starts hanging them up, too. Kiba and I follow in what she is doing.

_Amaya Shimizu_

I place on the last ornament, then take a few steps back to look at the tree, then I step back even more to admire our overall work on the room. The décor is nicely and evenly placed among the walls, the food is arranged neatly but decoratively on the table, the furniture is all straightened out, and the tree looks beautiful.

"By the way, Hinata," Kiba says. "Did you move the furniture yourself? It's definitely not the way it was the last time I came to your house."

"No, I'm not really strong enough to do it myself. I had Neji-nii-san help me out."

Neji? _Oh, Neji! _I almost forgot that Hinata mentioned Neji over the phone. She said they were both preparing for this party. But…where _is _Neji? There weren't any signs of him being here from the time we entered the house.

"Hey." A voice from behind sends me practically jumping forward from where I'm standing. _Neji._

"N-Neji-san. Hey."

"Thanks for helping out, Nii-san," Hinata says.

Neji observes the area. "It turned out well," he comments. "I'll be going back to my room. Just call if you need anything."

Hinata nods and turns back to talk to Kiba and me; "Kiba-kun, Amaya-chan, I still have to go get ready for the party. You can wait here. Feel free to eat already if you want, and please open the door if anyone knocks, k?" She starts walking away.

I sit down on a nearby couch, while Kiba remains standing up. Now I'm having this feeling, like I forgot something… _The gifts! I forgot everybody's gifts!_

Noticing the panic in my face, Kiba speaks up. "Are you alright?"

"Y-Yeah…, I just forgot some things…"

"Like what?"

"…Everyone's gifts."

His head snaps in my direction.

"You got something for everyone?!" Then he looks down. "Oh wait…, sorry. You don't wanna go through that snow storm again, do you?"

"And it would be a lot worse coming back. You know, with more stuff to carry. I think I'll just give them their presents when school starts again…"

Kiba takes a step toward me. "No, I'll help you."

"But Kiba, it's probably getting worse out there, and-"

"Seriously, _I'll help you. _It's no big deal- just some snow storm. So what? I mean, if you have gifts for people, _this _is the day to give it to them, right?"

I just look at him for a second. "Are you sure? You really don't mind?"

He's putting his hood over his head and walking to the front door.

"Well? Come on already!"

I follow him through the door and immediately start wrapping my arms around myself, then hiding my face behind my scarf.

"_Still _too cold?" He asks.

"_Yes!" _I shout.

He sighs, " I guess I'll just go get them myself."

"N-No, I'm still gonna come with you." I sneeze right after saying this. _Could the timing of that have been any worse?_

"Look! You're gonna get sick if you go now, so you stay here. You tell Hinata where I went and why, k?"

"But Kiba-"

"You trust me, right?"

I look down. "Y-Yeah…, okay. Just tell Aiko."

"Your sister, right? K, I'll be back in half an hour, maybe less." And with that, he begins trudging through the snow again.

_Kiba Inuzuka_

Cold? How did Amaya think _this _was cold? It's only around… thirty, maybe forty degrees Fahrenheit. Not too bad.

It's a pain walking through the snow again, but I gotta do it. I mean, she was getting sick! I'm just worried about how I'm gonna talk to her sister.

I hope Hinata doesn't feel disappointed that I'm gone. She's my best friend and all, but she has to understand. _Amaya was getting sick, and she forgot her presents is all, k? _Besides, I'm only gonna be gone for thirty minutes. Maybe an hour, if the snow gets worse, and even if I _am _gone for an hour, she'll probably get over it once Naruto gets there, assuming he _does. _But I'm pretty sure he will, since Hinata invited Sakura, too.

[…]

I'm kinda regretting this decision now. It's too quiet out here for me, and with nobody to talk to, I'm getting bored walking and seeing nothing but white ahead of me until I get a good 20 feet in front of a building. I'm following a path just to avoid walking into a wall.

[…]

I knock on the door as soon as I step on the welcome mat. A girl with the same brown hair and eyes as Amaya opens the door. Her face is slightly more angular. She's pretty, but definitely not my type. She leans, with her back against the doorway, and crosses one foot over her leg.

"Uh, hey, I'm uh, Kiba. Amaya's friend. I just-"

"Yeah, I know." She smirks a little and holds up a plastic bag with two fingers.

"Th-Thanks." I bow lightly to be polite, and turn to walk back.

"Wait." I stop immediately.

"What?" I ask.

"How's Amaya doing? Friends? School?"

"You shouldn't worry," I start walking again.

"Why not?"

"She's doing just fine." And I continue walking until the house disappears into the whiteness of the storm again.

_Hinata Hyuga_

"Kiba-kun?" I call out as I climb down the ladder. "Amaya-chan?"

"Yeah?" I hear Amaya from the area the party will be taking place in. I swing around the wall and see her sitting on the couch, then I look around.

"Where's Kiba-kun?" I ask. I can't see him anywhere around.

"Oh, well I kind of forgot the gifts I planned on giving you guys for Christmas, so he went to go get them because it was too cold outside."

"Mm…, well okay. I hope he doesn't get sick…"

Amaya sits messes with her phone, _Probably texting Ino or something._ Awkward silence between us. Suddenly, her head snaps up from her phone.

"I forgot! I just wanted to say thanks, Hinata-chan. I got your gift from the other day. It's nice." She smiles.

"It was nothing, really," I say. "Just…, a welcome present, you could say."

"Well thanks again."

We hear a knock on the door and Amaya jumps. "Sorry, that kinda scared me. Um…, I can go get it if you want."

"No it's okay, I can do it."

I walk to the door and open it slowly so I can see who it is.

"Merry Christmas!" Shout two voices in unison. Then, a late "Hey."

Ino, Sakura, and Shikamaru have arrived.

"Welcome, Ino-chan, Sakura-chan, Shikamaru-kun." I take some coats and scarves as they come into the house and place them in a nearby storage closet.

"Hey guys," Amaya calls to them.

"Oh hey," Shikamaru replies, "What time did you get here?"

"Around one I think."

"Why were you here so early?" Sakura asks.

She shrugs, "I finished getting ready early and figured I would help out."

"Well okay. So is anyone else here?"

"Kiba was, but he went to go get the gifts I forgot at my house."

"Alright… So we're missing… I believe Naruto, Choji, TenTen, and Lee, right?"

"_And _Sasuke-kun." Sakura says in a high-pitched voice.

"You invited _Sasuke?" _Shikamaru asks in some kind of disbelief. "Nobody here really knows the guy, let alone even _talks _to him. Why'd you invite him, Hinata?"

"Sorry, Shikamaru-kun, Sakura-chan thought it would be a good idea," I tell him.

"Whatever," he dismisses the topic.

"_Hey, I'm back!" Kiba-kun! _I run to go open the door.

_Amaya Shimizu_

"I brought back the gifts," Kiba says as he walks into the room and hands me a plastic bag. "Your sister had them ready as soon as she opened the door."

"Yeah…, she probably noticed already, anyways, thanks."

"_Knock, knock!" _Somebody shouts at the door, and Hinata goes running back to it again. I can hear them as they walk here.

"_Welcome, N-Naruto-kun."_

"_Oi, Hinata! So who else is here?"_

The appear at the doorway to the area the rest of us are in.

"Hey everybody!" Naruto does his wide grin and immediately makes himself comfortable, jumping onto a couch and placing his feet up on the table. I glance at Hinata, who seems to be glad that he's here, and Kiba, who seems to be annoyed at this.

There's an awkward silence across the room…

_Beep! _Somebody's phone goes off and breaks it.

"Oh hey!" Ino holds up here phone, "Choji says he's here with Lee!"

"_Yup!" _Choji's scream has caught us all off-guard this time.

"Oi, Choji! Don't do that anymore!" Naruto yells back.

"I've got it," Shikamaru says as he walk over to go get the two.

Now that I think about it, I've never really met Lee…, have I? Choji walks into the room, and then TenTen, who I guess ended up running into them, too. The last person to walk in besides Shikamaru is this kid with a bowl haircut and green t-shirt with… _spandex? What the- _He interrupts my thoughts by running up to me and standing uncomfortably close.

"You must be Amaya-san! I am your senior, Rock Lee. We met at the mall." He _thrusts _his hand out to grab mine, resulting in a very firm but painful handshake. _How did I forget about meeting this guy? _

"Nice to meet you, Lee-san." I wince a little.

Shikamaru goes to sit back down on the couch next to Ino, where he does as Naruto did by putting up his feet.

"Sh-Shikamaru-kun, could you please put your feet down?" Hinata says. "I can go get a stool or something for your feet instead…"

Kiba looks even more annoyed, placing his head down with his finger and thumb pinching the area between his eyes. Naruto puts his feet down immediately to avoid getting told off.

"Go ahead and eat," Hinata gestures toward the table. "Then we can start the gift exchange, okay?"

"Yeah," Choji says. "I'm starving…"

"Aren't you always?" Shikamaru jokes around.

[…]

Everyone gathers around the beautifully decorated tree, plates piled with food in their hands.

"Okay…" Hinata says. "I think everybody's here…"


	8. Christmas Evening

Konoha High

8 - Into Christmas Evening..

_Amaya Shimizu_

"I think everybody's here…," Hinata says.

"Everybody but Sasuke!" Sakura shouts, nearly throwing her onigiri at Naruto. He looks down in sorrow. Probably just jealous. But I guess I kinda understand. Seeing Naruto's expression, Hinata averts her eyes and starts to look kind of upset, too, and when Kiba sees that, _he _starts to turn away from them. _It's like a damned chain reaction._

"W-Well, Uchiha-san is probably busy…, Sorry, Sakura-chan." She walks over and sits on the opposite side of the couch that Kiba is on. I get up to sit in the empty spot between them to try to avoid any further awkwardness, as I can see Hinata looks a kind of uncomfortable.

"Guys…, why don't we start the gift-exchange?" I suggest. Hinata, Ino, Sakura, Naruto, Choji, Shikamaru- everybody's face lightens up at this suggestion.

"Good idea," Ino says, holding up her purse. She starts digging through it. "I brought something for everybody, I swear."

After a few more seconds of this, she begins walking around the room. "Here you go. And you, and you…," And then finally, "And last one is for _you." _She hands me a box that's small enough for me to cup my hand around.

"Open up!"

I open my box in sync with Sakura, TenTen, and Hinata.

"This is actually pretty cute," Sakura slips a white-and-blue bracelet, (identical to the ones TenTen, Hinata, and I got), around her wrist. I can see Ino has one, too, already around hers.

"I had them made a week ago," she tells us.

"Thank you, Ino-chan," Hinata smiles warmly and puts hers on. I do the same, then TenTen follows.

"What the heck?" Naruto's holding up a 15% off coupon to some shop at the mall. Kiba, Choji, Lee, and Shikamaru hold similar ones.

"50% off anything in the food court," Choji reads aloud. "Thanks, Ino!" But he seems to be the only one who likes his present. The other guys kinda just…, put on sarcastic smiles while Ino giggles and goes back to sit next to Shikamaru.

"I guess I'll go next," Hinata says. "I need to go get them upstairs, first."

"Need help?" Kiba offers.

"No, it's okay, Kiba-kun." She leaves and comes back two minutes later.

"Naruto-kun, Kiba-kun, Shikamaru-kun, Choji-kun, Lee-san…, Amaya-chan, TenTen-chan, Ino-chan, Sakura-chan…" She finishes off.

"I like it," Kiba says as he puts on a red beanie. "Does it suit me?" He jokes around. _It actually does…_

Everybody got a different color. Kiba got red, I got yellow, Ino got purple, Sakura got a dark pink, Shikamaru got gray, Naruto got blue, Lee got green, TenTen got white, and Choji got brown.

"I tried my best making them myself…, a-and I tried to get everyone their own color. I hope you like them."

Naruto puts his on like Kiba. "I do," he grins and then scratches the back of his head. "But I feel kinda bad now 'cause I didn't really…, get any presents."

"N-No, N-Naruto-kun, it's okay! You didn't _need _to…" Hinata's face is reddening more and more…, her breathing is getting faster, to the point that it actually looks like she's hyperventilating.

Kiba gets up to put his hand on her shoulder, then he starts patting her on the back. "Calm down, Hinata." He glares at Naruto for a second before she breathes out, and after a few seconds she's at a regular pace again.

"Anyone else have anything to give out?" Ino asks. Nobody else responds, so I hold up my bag, then start passing out the four presents I have.

"Nice," Ino says as she wraps her scarf around. "Right color, too."

"Thanks!" Sakura puts hers to the side, then begins to announce: "I think I'm gonna pass out your guys' presents when school starts again after break, k? It was kinda busy and I didn't get to buying much."

"Alright," a murmur from everybody else.

"So that's done…, is anybody still hungry?" Hinata asks.

"Ah…, well actually…" Choji points to the empty table.

"A-ah…, S-sorry! I didn't make enough!… What should I do?…, I-I'll go buy some more food…, and drinks…, yeah…"

"Hinata…," _Kiba again. _"I can go-"

"I'll go with you to buy the food!" Naruto offers. He's grinning wide again and already standing up. "I didn't get a present for you, after all…, this is the least I could do in return, right?" He's headed for the door.

"T-Thank you, N-Naruto-kun," Hinata blushes and follows him to the door. Kiba's face holds a…hurt expression, I guess you could say.

Hinata takes her coat from the closet and before closing the door, calls, "I-If you need anything you can call me…, or Neji-nii-san…, or Kiba-kun…"

_Kiba? I guess he's been here pretty often though. They seem like good friends._

_Hinata Hyuga_

_N-Naruto-kun…? Is this really happening?…_

This is no dream…, Naruto-kun really _is _here, walking next to me. Just us. The thought makes my cheeks burn, and I think they're probably turning a strange shade of pink…, or red, as Kiba-kun tells me. I try to hid my cheeks behind my scarf.

I hope what I chose to wear is okay…, my favorite lavender-and-beige jacket with black leggings and the scarf Amaya-chan gave me. He's wearing an orange t-shirt under a white, unzipped jacket, with the hood over his head.

"Hinata?" His voice startles me.

"Yes, N-Naruto-kun?" My heart starts racing. _What does he want to ask?_

"What are we gonna buy? I was thinking maybe more onigiri…, instant ramen, 'cause, you know, it's easy to make, Ramune… Did I already mention instant ramen?"

I sigh. _Of course. What else was I expecting him to ask?…_

"Instant ramen is okay," I look up at him and smile. "And Ramune sounds good, too."

"Great!"

We walk in silence, all the way to the convenience store.

_Amaya Shimizu_

"Oi, Amaya! Where are the presents for the guys?" Kiba asks. Now I regret not buying anything for them…, _But maybe it's just Kiba._

"I-I promised I'd treat you all to Ichiraku…, or wherever you'd like to eat." _Why do I feel my cheeks going red again?_

"Sheesh, what's with you?" Kiba asks. "You're just like Hinata around Naruto… You have a fever or something?"

"S-Sorry. I think it's just hot." _What is this? What is this…feeling?_

Kiba walks away and starts talking to the other guys. The way he's laughing and joking around with them, the way he was nice enough to carry me here and then get the stuff I forgot at my house… _Is this… Do I really?… Could I possibly… _Like _Kiba?!_

[…]

After a few minutes of _thinking, _Kiba sits next to me.

"God, you've gotten worse!" He puts his hand on my forehead. "Are you sick or something?!"

"N-No!" I turn my head away.

"You sure?" Kiba asks.

"Yeah, so e-excuse me…" I try to get past Kiba. _Am I trying to avoid him now?_

"The hell…," I hear him mutter.

Somebody's hand is around my wrist. _Kiba. _He's dragging me outside of the room, and into a more quiet area.

"Amaya?" He starts. "Are you sure you're okay? Is there something bugging you?"

"N-No, really. I just hope Naruto and Hinata come back alright."

With this, he averts his eyes for a few seconds. "I should've gone with her instead…"

"B-But isn't this _good _for her? Doesn't she _like _Naruto?"

He doesn't speak.

"Kiba?…"

He starts to give me some space. His head is down again, and he's avoiding any eye contact.

"I don't understand it," he mutters.

"Understand what?…, _Kiba!" _

"Hinata…" He mutters. He looks up, and at first I see anger, but through that… _Is this pain? Sorrow?_

_Kiba wanted to go buy the food with Hinata instead of Naruto. He comforted her, but also seemed mad at Naruto when she started hyperventilating. It seemed to disturb him when Naruto got away with what Shikamaru couldn't. K-Kiba…_

"K-Kiba…, I know what it is…"

"…"

"It's Hinata. And Naruto. Isn't it?" I realize that I'm no longer blushing, stuttering, or feeling nervous.

"…Yeah."

I stay quiet.

"But don't you _dare _tell her. I don't want her to feel awkward around me; we've gone so far- I don't want our friendship to suffer because of me. I mean…, she's my best friend."

"No I understand, Kiba. I promise I won't tell _anyone."_

"Thanks… So what about you?… You promise me there's nothing wrong?"

After realizing this, I feel guilty for supposedly having a crush on Kiba. Was it _really _a crush, though? I mean, aren't I supposed to feel jealous of Hinata? _No…, that wasn't a crush. I know what it is._

"It doesn't matter anymore, I promise." I give a convincing smile and start walking towards the party again. "And Kiba?" I say, just a few feet from the doorway. He looks up to me and raises his eyebrows as a motion for me to go on.

"…You have a chance." I reassure him. His smile shows he's at least a little bit convinced.

No, this was definitely no crush on Kiba. I see him as, not a lover, but as a guardian-figure; a _sibling._

_Shikamaru Nara_

Amaya walks back into the room, and Kiba follows a few seconds later.

"It's a good thing you guys didn't walk in at the same time," I smirk at Amaya and gesture towards the mistletoe hanging over the doorway. She just rolls her eyes and sits down. Kiba brushes it off and stands next to the couch.

"I'm gonna go to the bathroom really quick," Ino tells Sakura. She stands up and leaves the room.

A loud knock on the door resounds throughout the house.

"_Oi! We're back!" Naruto and Hinata._

"I'll get it," I offer and stand up to walk to the front door.

"Th-Thank you, Shikamaru-kun," Hinata says as she enters the house with the bags in her hands. She walks on to set the food out, while Naruto stays to talk to me.

"That…, was kinda awkward," he scratches the back of his head. "I mean…, she doesn't talk a lot, and when she does, it's like she can't get her words out right!" He quietly screams. He sighs. "Well…, I'm heading back," he starts walking away.

I follow him, but I hear another door close behind me.

"Shi-ka-ma-ru~!" Ino loops her arms through the space between my torso and my elbow. We continue walking, and once we get through the doorway:

"Oi, Shikamaru!" _God dammit, Amaya! _"If I'm not mistaken, you two just walked in at the same time." Her smirk has "payback" written all over it.

My cheeks start to feel warm. _Whatever…_

Ino's immediately turns to face me. She's giggling. I sigh, and smile slightly- I can't help but surrender with the way she's looking at me.

I lean in, and slightly down, until her lips meet mine for just a small peck.

"Are you happy?"

Amaya stares, dumbfounded. I hear her mutter to herself, _"I didn't think they'd actually do it…"_

_Kiba Inuzuka_

"_I mean…, she doesn't talk a lot, and when she does, it's like she can't get her words out right!" _Why does Naruto have to be so damn loud?! Wait… _Is he talking about… Hinata? He doesn't even understand…, he doesn't get how much he means to her._

_Stop. _STOP. I need to stop thinking about this and just enjoy the party. It's Christmas; I need to calm down.

"K-Kiba-kun…" _Hinata!_

"Y-Yeah?" Is my face getting as red as hers does right now?

"I brought back Ramune." She smiles and hands me a bottle of melon-flavored Ramune- my favorite flavor.

"Thanks," I grin back and pop the bottle open. She goes around to offer everyone else one. Amaya looks back at me and gives me a quick thumbs up. I shrug back at her. _What was that supposed to mean? _She rolls her eyes and talks to Sakura, then looks over her shoulder at Sakura's phone.

_Beep! _My phone goes off.

New Text Message

From: Number not in contacts

_Kiba! It's Amaya. I realized I didn't have your number so I got it from Sakura. Anyways…, 1) Save this number, and 2) Didn't you notice? Hinata offered you soda first!_

I save the number.

Compose New Text Message

To: Amaya

_I don't think that really means anything._

Amaya walks to sit next to me. "Sheesh, Kiba, don't be a pessimist on Christmas day."

"I know, I know," I sigh. "I'm gonna go talk to some of the guys. If I keep silent, everyone's gonna ask me and eventually find out what's up."

"…Okay." She gets up, too, and goes back to Sakura.

[…]

"Kiba!" Naruto calls.

"Oi, Naruto." I sit down in front of him.

"Did you get any presents for anybody?" He asks.

"…Nah. Not yet, at least. I didn't have time."

"I really don't wanna go back to school."

"Neither do I."

Naruto sighs. "As soon as I get back, I'm probably gonna beat that Sasuke senseless."

"Aha, you're gonna get _your _ass kicked instead!"

"You dunno that yet, Kiba." He looks down and sighs again. "But I'm glad he didn't come today."

"Why Sakura invited him in the first place, I don't even know," I say. "All he would do is sit on some couch and not talk to anyone."

"Shino would do that same thing, huh?"

"But at least the girls wouldn't be all over Shino," I joke around. "Oh shit, man I just forgot we didn't even _invite _Shino!"

"So?" _Naruto, you clueless son of a-_

"Man you _know _how Shino is gonna react to this!"

He takes some time to think about this.

"…Damn, you're right, Kiba. Shino's gonna take it personally and sulk all day!"

"_I see. You guys invited Uchiha-san, but not me…" _I imitate him, pretending to put on a hood and start hiding my face. Naruto and I both burst out laughing.

_Naruto… _He's not bad. I mean he's one of my good friends, too. The only thing I dislike about him is probably his actions and words towards Hinata. His cluelessness.

"Kiba, Naruto! Come on!" It's Ino calling from in front of the TV. "We're gonna set up karaoke!" She's giggling while we look somewhat reluctant. Shikamaru just gestures for us to go there already.

"Okay, okay," I get up and wait for Naruto to follow. We move to the couch in front of the TV.

"You can sing, first, dude." I nudge Naruto and Ino starts to hand him the microphone. He glares at me.

"I hate you," he mutters.

"Same to you," I fake smile.

"_You gonna sing next?" _Amaya says quietly as she passes in front of the TV.

"Ha, yeah, sure."

"R-Really, Kiba-kun?" _Hinata?_

"Yeah, yeah," I sigh, "Of course."

I now wait for my turn. My ears are bleeding because _Naruto freaking doesn't know how to sing!_

[…]

"Here." Naruto hands me the mic, "_Your turn." _He smirks back at me.

"Better to get it over with," I laugh slightly. "Actually," I turn to him. "Why don't _you _choose the song?"

I really don't care anymore. I've sang karaoke as a joke with the guys tons of times. Why should this be any different? Naruto's face lights up, and he opens his mouth to announce the song number:

"2079!"

I punch in the numbers and push enter to reveal what song he has chosen.

"Damn bastard," I tell him.

"What song?" Sakura chimes in.

The song he chose doesn't suit me at all. First of all, the person who sang it has such a light, high-pitched voice. And then, there's the title, which now flashes across the screen in big pink letters:

"_Renai Circulation," _in other words,_ "Love _Circulation."

A countdown appears in place of the title. _3..., 2..., 1!_

"_Se-no!" _I begin, though Naruto's already laughing.

"_Demo sonnan ja dame, mou sonnan ja hora…, kokoro wa shinka, suruyo motto, motto!"_

This is an opening to some anime Naruto convinced me to watch a while back. It probably sounds hilarious to everyone else, me trying to hit a higher pitched voice. I don't even know all of the damn lyrics to this song!  
_"Kotoba na suru- ba hachijuha ni something kore wa ra…" _At this point I'm just faking it. This verse is freaking hard!

"_Kami-sama arigatou…, unmei no itatsumademo…" _I think that's how the chorus goes…

[…]

"Oh God, Kiba!" Sakura is laughing.

"_That _was just _a-ma-zing," _Shikamaru says sarcastically, then he starts laughing with everyone else.

"G-Good job, Kiba-kun," Hinata tells me. Her lips curve upward into a smile, and now she's giggling, too. I don't really care how awkward or embarrassing it was for me to sing that now, since it made her smile.

_Amaya Shimizu_

Oh my God, I'm dying from Kiba's performance… I don't really know the song, but I know it well enough to tell that it does _not _work for Kiba. He was trying to sing in a higher voice!

"Hahaha!" I'm glad I'm not the only one laughing so enthusiastically. Naruto, Shikamaru, Ino, Sakura…, we're all laughing hard, all trying to take a breath and failing.

"I-I'm dying!" Naruto's gripping his stomach.

"…Me too!" Sakura's slapping his back.

Kiba's face turns a dark shade of red, then it's just his cheeks and he grins wide. "_Arigatou~!" _He laughs, then talks to Naruto; "I can't believe I just did that."

Naruto pats him on the back in mock sympathy. "It's okay, it's okay. Everybody loved it!"

_Kiba Inuzuka_

"Oh my gosh…" Ino is giggling, and I can hear some imitation of my singing.

_No… Not an imitation…_

"Did you _record _that?!" I shout at her.

"N-No…" She's trying to breathe between her giggles while turning her phone's screen away.

"You bitch, you did!" I try to snatch the phone away but Shikamaru deflects my arm.

"No man, that's a keeper," he smirks.

"…Fine," I tell them. "I don't care. Just…, don't you _dare _post that. Or show that to anyone outside of the group. _Anyone," _I threaten.

"Promise," Ino winks.

[…]

It's around eleven p.m. now, and the party's dying down. Only Sakura, Naruto, Amaya, and I are left with Hinata. _And _Neji, if he counts, but he didn't really join in on anything.

I'm sitting on a couch, kinda tired. Across from me on another couch is Naruto, who fell asleep around thirty minutes ago. His arms are outstretched over his head while his legs are pouring over the edge of the couch.

On the other side of the couch, Hinata is wedged between Naruto's feet and the couch's armrest, talking to Sakura, who's standing next to me.

"Tonight was nice," Hinata begins. "We should do this again next year."

"Yeah! Who'll host?"

"I-I don't mind, but maybe we could try your house or Ino's house."

"Probably Ino. Her house is big enough. My house is so _small!" _Sakura complains. She glances at her phone. "Oh crap, it's almost twelve! Curfew's in five minutes… Think the storm's calmed down?"

"Let's check."

They both get up and start in the same direction towards the door.

"Yes! It'll only take me five extra minutes, _maximum," _she says, her voice begins to fade. _"Thanks Hinata! See you tomorrow!… Wait, I mean… sorry haha, I-" _I can't hear her anymore, but Hinata responds:

"Thanks for coming, Sakura-chan!"

When she gets back, Amaya, who I almost forgot about, asks, "Did she say we'd meet up again the day after tomorrow?"

"Y-Yeah," Hinata smiles.

"Cool. Just hanging out?"

"Well it's-"

"Her birthday," I complete.

"Oh! Sorry! I didn't know…"

"It's alright. But you can come, too. We're going to Konoha's marketplace."

"Where's that?" She asks.

"Well…," Hinata explains. "It's a good place to meet up with people. It's like the center of the village, I'd say. Movie theater, cafés, various shops, restaurants, little parks and playground areas… That kind of place."

"That's nice. I just need the directions that day, or someone to help me get there…" She laughs awkwardly and scratches her head. "Well thanks. I'll call you tomorrow about the directions, but I'll be there for sure!"

"Thanks, Amaya-chan."

"There was a place like that in Kiriga…, I guess every village has one, huh? I wonder what Konoha's looks like…, because well, in my old village, it was always pretty crowded. And…"

Amaya goes on, but I can't focus on her. Hinata's smiling and nodding, but her eyelids are slowly closing and suddenly fluttering open. This repeats until she starts swaying slightly and then finally lands gently on her side and dozes off.

Her lips are turned upward a bit, as if in a slight smile. Her expression is just so tranquil…

My vision begins to blur a bit too, as I struggle to keep my eyes open. Amaya's voice is drowned out and, by the time my head starts swaying, I can faintly see Hinata's figure: her hands are cupped over her chest, her legs are curled up to her stomach and her feet cross. My lips, too turn upward into my own stupid smile.

_Wait. _I snap out of my sleepy state. Her head and torso rest on _Naruto's _chest.

"Oi, Naruto, Hinata!" Amaya stops talking.

"Aha…," I scratch the back of my head. "It's like everyone's falling asleep."

"Man….," Naruto mumbles. "What time is it?" He sits up.

Hinata gets up, too. "O-Oh…" She blushes madly once she realizes who she fell asleep on.

"S-Sorry, Naruto-kun! I didn't notice…"

"Nah, you're fine," he starts to stand. "Well I'm beat. I think I'm gonna go home, k?"

"Yeah alright," Amaya says. "See ya."

"Ja ne~!" He calls on his way out. "Was fun though, guys."

"S-Sayonara," Hinata murmurs.

"Later," I say quietly.

"…Well, I think I'm gonna go, too," Amaya gets up. She runs her fingers through her hair like a comb, then walks out. This time, Hinata and I follow.

Amaya gets her cardigan out and scarf out of the closet and put them on.

"See you guys soon," she smiles.

"Bye," we both wave.

Once she's gone, Hinata and I are quiet.

"When are your parents gonna be home?" I ask.

"Well they were out of town, anyways…, they won't be back until tomorrow morning."

"Oh. Well I'll help you take some of the decorations down and clean up."

"Thanks," she says as we walk back.

[…]

Ribbons are down, Christmas lights are out. All of the extra food has been stored some place in the kitchen, and all of the trash has been thrown away. I think we both look really tired, but as much as I'd like to suggest sleeping over, (which I have actually done a few times before), I know I have to get home. My parents haven't been warned ahead of time that I'd be spending the night, and I don't even have extra clothes with me.

"Well, Hinata, I'm gonna start walking back, k?"

"Be careful, Kiba-kun."

"I'll try my best, but who knows?"

Her expression changes, and her eyebrows raise in concern. I try to kid around:

"I mean, what if Shino tries to jump me on my way home for not inviting him?"

"Oh…, W-Wait!" She covers her face with her hands. "I-I can't believe I forgot to invite Sh-Shino-kun!"

"It's _okay, _Hinata. Invite him to your birthday meet-up, it'll be fine."

"O-Okay…"

"Goodnight," I say as I leave.

"Goodnight," she responds.

[…]

I wake up that morning at nine. I'm tired, but I somehow manage to pull the covers off and get up.

"Kiba, are you awake yet?" My older sister, Hana, calls from outside. "Breakfast's ready!"

"Yeah I'm up," I call back.

I hear my mom talking to Hana:

"_I'm surprised he's even up this early. He usually wakes up around eleven to noon."_

"I can hear you, ya know," I say as I enter the kitchen.

"Well it's not like it was a secret."

"Whatever." I sit across the table from my mom, who's already served herself and started eating.

"So why are you up this early, anyway?"

"I have to go buy something."

"Why?" Hana asks.

"Hinata's birthday is tomorrow," I explain.

"Oh! Hinata-chan? I like that girl," my mom says. "She's very polite and has a great sense of respect, unlike _some _people." I can feel her eyes on me.

"Here, Kiba." Hana hands me a bowl of rice porridge on top of a plate with beef jerky and bacon on the side.

"Thanks, Nee-chan."

I look down at my plate, and, before I can start eating, notice that a piece of beef jerky has disappeared. _The hell?_

"…_Akamaru," _I whine, "that was _mine." _My dog starts to whimper.

"All right, all right. Nee-chan, can you-"

She throws Akamaru some meat. "Done."

"Arigatou."

Akamaru starts to dig in, furiously biting at the meat. I pick up a strip of bacon. Hana smacks me on the head with her cooking utensil.

"Finish your porridge, first."

"Fine."

[…]

_The next day…_

"_Twelve o'clock. We can meet at the fountain by the café." _Our phone conversation repeats itself in my head. I'm walking to Konoha's marketplace now. I check my phone; It's 11:45. I'm keeping a good pace, so I should be there a little early, if ever.

I tried to dress decently, too. Still winter, so I have my favorite gray jacket with the fur-lined hood on, on top of a black t-shirt. Basic straight jeans, black Converse, Hinata's present in hand.

I look around. Fountain's up ahead. _I'm here._

**Author's Note:**

_**Major thanks to my friend evenestfacade, who helped me draft this and came up with a lot of ideas with me.**_

_**The song mentioned in this chapter, **__**"**__**Renai Circulation" is by Kana Hanazawa and is the opening for the anime **__**"**__**Bakemonogatari". I figured it would be funny, imagining Kiba sing a song like this.**_

_**I'll start working on chapter 9 right away, promise! Most likely to be released in a week or two. I usually have around 30-60 minutes to write everyday, sometimes more. Be patient, yeah?**_

_**Thanks for reading!**_


	9. At Last

Konoha High

9 - At Last

_Hinata Hyuga_

Mid-length, spiky brown hair; gray jacket. No mistaking who this is.

"Kiba-kun!" I call out to him. He waves and starts walking towards me.

"Happy birthday," he grins and hands me a box, nicely wrapped in purple.

"Arigatou," I thank him, then motion for him to set next to me on the fountain's edge.

My phone beeps inside the small bag I decided to bring today.

New Text Message

From: Ino Yamanaka

_Ran into Amaya on the way to the marketplace, so you don't need to worry about her getting lost c;_

"Who is it?" Kiba asks.

"Just Ino-chan. She said she ran into Amaya, so she'll help her get here."

"Alright," he looks around. "Hey, look!"

I turn to face that direction.

Sunglasses; beige hoodie with the hood pulled over his head. _Shino-kun. _I wave at him, and he just walks to us slowly.

"Happy birthday, Hinata." He gives me an envelope with _Hinata Hyuga _written on the front.

"Thanks, Shino-kun. You're early, too," I say, but he shakes his head and points to his wristwatch; 12:00. Shino-kun's so precise about being on-time.

"Hey, Kiba," he greets.

"Oi, Shi- NO!" Kiba almost smacks an insect out of the air.

"Watch it!" Shino cups the bug in his hands, then places it in a small vile with about a dozen others.

"…Tell me why, again, you still keep these around?"

"For emergencies."

"Like what?"

We sit and wait for everyone else to get here, Shino and Kiba arguing about old shinobi wars and ninjutsu.

"_Hinata!" _I look up. Blue jacket over a white t-shirt. _Naruto-kun._

_Amaya Shimizu_

"We turn left _here," _Ino's helping me get to the marketplace. I'm so glad I ran into her because earlier I was actually headed in the wrong direction…

"And then another left…, then up ahead, we'll take a right, k? But this is just if you're walking or running there. Once I get my license, I'll just pick you up," she smiles. "Just two more years…"

"Yeah, thanks Ino."

"By the way, why didn't your sister take you? She can drive, right?"

"She can, but today she said she had to leave early to go meet someone."

"Well okay. Anyways, we're gonna pass by Shikamaru's house. It's just on the way there."

"Alright."

[…]

"Oi, Ino, Amaya," Shikamaru greets us as he closes the door behind him. He's wearing a beige sweatshirt, gray pants, and has a small rectangular box in his left hand. Ino takes his right.

"What'd you get for her, Shikamaru?" She asks.

"Just a gift card to the book store. She likes reading, right?"

"Yeah…, you can usually see her reading for basically the whole time during school."

"Okay, good."

"What about you, Amaya?" She taps on the gift bag I have.

"A bracelet, a blouse, a beanie." Before I left for the Christmas party the other day, I decided not to bring these things because it would seem unfair for the other girls.

"Cool," Ino holds up her smaller gift bag. "I got a necklace."

I just nod as a response, and we continue walking. I'm still pondering how close Shikamaru and Ino are. I mean, at the Christmas party, they kissed, but I thought it was just as a joke under the mistletoe. Now they're holding hands. _Are they…? It doesn't seem like they would, but…_

I try not to think about it. I should just ask Hinata, Kiba, or Sakura when we get to the marketplace.

[…]

"Here!" Ino, Shikamaru, and I give Hinata our presents. She already has two other envelopes on top of a purple box next to her.

"Thank you," she says. Kiba stands.

"Do you need a bag, Hinata?"

"I-If you don't mind getting one, Kiba-kun."

He shakes his head, "Nah, I'll go get one from the convenience store. Be right back, guys!" He jogs off.

"So what are we gonna do?" Naruto asks.

"E-Eat lunch, then go buy dessert, if you want," Hinata stutters.

"Cool," he says. "Who else are we expecting?"

"Choji-kun and Lee-san said they couldn't make it today," she says, "so probably just TenTen and Sakura."

"Alright."

I can already see Kiba running back, a blue plastic bag flapping around in his hand.

"Here," Kiba starts putting the gifts inside.

"Thanks Kiba-kun."

"It's nothing."

"Well, guess we should go eat?" Naruto pipes up.

"Y-Yeah," Hinata agrees.

_Hinata Hyuga_

"I'll take this ramen," Naruto points to something on the cover of the menu, "and water."

"I'll have onigiri and miso soup," Amaya tells the waitress.

"I'll take… Hmm…"

We all order, one person after the other.

"Hey guys! Sorry I'm late!" TenTen calls from the entrance. She's with Sakura, and they both take a seat at the end, next to Amaya at the table. TenTen asks for strawberry Ramune and pork buns, and Sakura asks for onigiri and water.

When the waitress leaves, they both give me gift bags.

"Thanks."

"Sorry, Hinata-chan," Sakura apologizes.

"It's okay."

"So what do you plan on doing after this?" She asks.

"Get dessert," I tell her, "if you want."

"Of course we're getting dessert," Naruto adds enthusiastically.

"O-Okay, Naruto-kun."

[…]

When our food arrives, we talk about school, and Sakura brings up Sasuke.

"I really wouldn't wanna go to school, except that that's the only place I'd ever see Sasuke-kun," she says. "I've never seen him around at the karaoke bar, or the mall, even. The only time I have _ever _seen him outside of school was this one time I ran into him at the convenience store."

"Did you talk to him there?" Ino asks.

Sakura cups her face into her hands and starts swaying slightly. Her voice seems to get a little higher; "_Well… _No…, he seemed like he was busy so I didn't wanna bother him…, wouldn't wanna be rude."

"Well if he was interested, he would've talked to you _first," _Naruto mumbles.

"_What, _Naruto? Eh?"

"N-Nothing, Sakura-chan."

I sigh. _Naruto-kun…_

As much as I tried to keep it to myself, Sakura and Ino managed to force the fact that I love Naruto out of me over the last three years.

"_Hinata-chan, why are you blushing?"_

"_Hinata-chan, stop stuttering!"_

"_Hinata-chan, are you okay? Do you have a fever?"_

At some point, they realized my behavior changed around Naruto-kun. I'd become more nervous and shy than I usually am. Sakura and Ino would wonder why, but they became more supportive as we got closer. Kiba would always tease me when Naruto was around, but he probably figured it out even _before_ Sakura and Ino did.

He never asked, but it seemed he would take note of my actions whenever Naruto was around.

"_Calm down, Hinata."_ He would and still does help to comfort me whenever I start to hyperventilate or something.

[…]

"Instead of ice cream or yogurt or something, can we just go get coffee?" Ino asks.

"Is everyone else okay with it?…" I ask, but I know that Naruto, persistent as he is, won't change his mind.

"Yeah."

"Sounds good."

"It's alright."  
Everybody agrees, except, as I expected, Naruto-kun.

"But guys!…"

"Naruto!" Sakura shouts at him. "Can you be less selfish?! Today is _Hinata's _birthday. Don't make it about you."

"S-Sorry, Hinata-chan," he apologizes. _No…, I can't have him upset because of me._

"Y-You know…, I felt like getting dessert, too," I say. Naruto's face brightens.

"Alright, Hinata-chan! See that? Let's go!"

"Actually…," Ino says, winking at me. "The rest of us will go get coffee. You two go ahead and get ice cream or something."

"Uhh okay," Naruto starts walking. He stops and turns around. "Hinata-chan? Aren't you coming?"

"Ah- Yeah!" I'm literally stumbling just to cover the small distance between us.

[…]

"Okay, is that all?" The girl at the counter asks.

I nod, and she hits a key on the register.

"That'll be 800 yen," she says and waits patiently while I take out my wallet. Naruto extends his arm to stop me.

"I got this, Hinata. Consider this another birthday gift."

"I-It's o-okay…"

He pulls out a pouch designed like a frog, so that whenever you open it to get money, it looks like it's eating your hand.

"Here ya go," he holds out the money for the cashier.

"Oh, right! For here or to go?" She asks before taking it.

"For he-"

"_To go," _Naruto interrupts. _To go? W-Where does he want to go?!_

The cashier puts a lid over the paper bowls of ice cream and puts them in a bag with two spoons and a few napkins. Naruto hands her the money, takes the bag, and she smiles, "Have a nice day!"

We leave to go back outside. I feel can feel my heart beating faster. _Is it possible that he likes me back? Or is he just being nice?…_

I'm growing frantic… _Or is this just excitement?_

[…]

"N-Naruto-kun…, where are we going?" I finally ask.

"To the park area," he says, his voice nonchalant.

"W-Why?"

"I figured it'd be nice. I mean, I play a lot of video games and tend to be really lazy sometimes, but I actually _like _the outdoors, ya know?" He grins like he always does, with his eyes shut and his teeth out, _proud. _The way that for some reason, makes you want to smile back, every time.

"O-Oi, Hinata… Are you okay? You're getting red again…, are you feeling sick?" _…So oblivious, _I can't help but think.

"I-I'm fine. _Great, _actually."

He stares at me, his eyebrows raised in curiosity. He's so close… My breaths become more frequent. _No. Don't do this. Kiba-kun isn't here this time. What's Naruto going to think if I faint again?_

Yes…,_ again. _It happened once in elementary school, before his parents decided he should be home schooled for a couple of years. _Elementary school?…_ Has it really been this long?

[…]

I remember when I first started liking Naruto…

I was a lot younger, (I'd say around the first three years of primary school), and I'd be a target of bullying because I was a quiet, shy girl that people saw as a sort of outcast. Neji would defend me if things got bad, but he also had studies and Taijutsu training to attend to, so he wouldn't always be there for me. And then there was the fact that, at that age, we weren't quite as close. You could say Neji didn't even _like _me very much, and was just doing what he had to as my older cousin.

Shino and Kiba were also there for me, as we'd been friends ever since year one, when everyone was put into groups of three for a school-project. Whenever someone messed with me, they'd be there in an instant, their arms crossed and tough-kid looks on their faces.

Neji-nii-san always told me to avoid Naruto, being the kid whose parents "didn't discipline him properly".

"_He causes plenty of trouble, and you're _not _to get involved with _any _of it."_

Kiba, however, told me otherwise:

"_Class is so boring, Hinata! Why don't you just come with us and skip out on class for just _one _day?" _Kiba would occasionally skip classes with Naruto, Choji, and Shikamaru, but I would never join them. My parents were strict about education and doing that would have resulted in some form of punishment.

One day- _I remember so clearly- _I had to walk home from school because my parents were too busy to pick me up. Neji had after-school training, and Kiba went to the park with Shikamaru and Choji, leaving me to walk alone.

I'd been walking for less than five minutes- but it didn't take long for things to go wrong.

While trying to avoid a particular group of older students, one (whose name I can't recall) stepped back, right into me.

"_S-Sorry! I-I didn't me-mean to… I just…" _I apologized frantically.

"_Watch it," _he sneered.

"_Well what do you expect?" _One of the other students smirked. _"It's that Hyuga kid!"_

"_W-Wait…" _The first stuttered, then looked around cautiously. He started whispering, but I could still hear: _"Idiots! Her brother or whatever is gonna kill us if we do anything to her!"_

"_Brother?"_

"…_Or cousin. Whatever. _Bodyguard, _there." _At this, the other kids' eyes widened with realization.

"_Y-You mean Neji?!" _They all took another look to see if he was anywhere near us- to see if he'd heard anything. When they found he was nowhere to be seen, their lips turned up into malevolent grins.

"_Oh, I don't see Neji around _anywhere!"

"_Neither do I! What about _you?"

"_Nope! But wouldn't it be such a shame if something were to happen to Hinata without Neji-san to come save her?"_

My lips started quavering with fear. I tried to run, but they were taller than me and caught up quickly. Once they had a hold of me again, we were in a more isolated area. They weren't smirking anymore; they were just annoyed.

"_You see this?" _One kid pointed at a nasty bruise near his collarbone. _"Your damn cousin gave me that yesterday."_

"_M-Maybe you d-deserved it," _I managed to say. I don't know, maybe I just didn't like that they were blaming Neji, but I knew I wasn't helping myself much.

"_What?!" _I remained silent. He started yelling more, then landed a hit to the right side of my face. I could feel my cheek swelling, and I started to shield myself from the next one, but it never came.

"_Oi! Leave her alone!"_

"_What the hell are you gonna do?" _They laughed. _"Whatever, it's just Naruto." _They turned back to me.

"_H-Hey! Don't ignore me!" _Naruto shouted again, louder. _"You guys are so weak that you have to pick on defenseless girls!" _This was enough to provoke them. Naruto ran, and they followed. I did, too, but at a slower pace. When I caught up to them, I saw that they'd already had him surrounded. Through their legs I could see his blond hair suspended over the dirt. _Had he already been beaten?_

He stood. At first, I was going to go give him what little help I could, but he gave me a grin with so much pride and confidence… I just stood and watched.

"_Are you an idiot?" _He said to me from within their circle. _"Go!"_

I ran, but I couldn't help but look back. Naruto was already thrown back to the floor. I had to go get help. Luckily, I ran right into Neji-nii.

"_Hinata-sama?" _He gave a questioning look. _"Where did you just?…" _His eyes affixed to something else on my face. _"Who did this to you?!"_

I was still trying to catch my breath, so I just pointed in the direction I ran from. Neji started walking, but I urged him to run.

When he saw the group of delinquents he'd known from the day before, he immediately took action.

When it was over, Naruto stood up. He looked at Neji, then at me, and grinned even wider, despite how beat-up he was. Neji just glared at him, then turned to talk to me:

"_I told you to stay away from him."_

"_B-But Nii-san…, he helped me…"_

"No, _he didn't. It's a good thing you found me before things got worse. Now come on, let's go home."_

"_O-Okay…" _While walking back, I glanced back to find Naruto, but he wasn't there anymore.

From that day on, I started to notice him more and more, despite Neji's warnings. I observed, and soon found that I noticed more than others had bothered to about Naruto.

Even though he wasn't good at something, he'd try hard at it, and when he would fail in front of everyone, he'd just make it a joke. So to everyone else, and much to the teachers' annoyance, it seemed he was just the class clown.

After school, instead of going home, I'd see him run to the park. I followed him once out of curiosity.

He played around with some of the other kids and after an hour or so, the other kids' parents would start calling for them to go home. He, on the other hand, would stay there, watching the other kids go, his face full of longing. When they were all gone, he'd sit on the swing by himself, letting his feet hover off the ground by a few inches but not actually swinging. His head would be down, his hair hanging down over his eyes so they weren't visible. Thin, perfect lines streaked his cheeks; tears streamed down his face and dropped down into the sand.

I outstretched my arm, trying to reach out from where I was standing. _"Na-" _I tried calling out, but then I found somebody else's hand on my shoulder.

_Neji. _He looked down at me coldly. _"Hinata-sama." _I looked down and started walking back home with him. I knew he wouldn't approve if I had continued.

Later, I found out that his family was very high up. His father was the Hokage, and his mother worked under him. They were both too busy for him and would often leave him in the care of his godfather, Jiraiya. But Jiraiya, it seemed, was very neglectful. He drank a lot and was frequently found with various women around Konoha.

_Naruto had no one but himself for almost his whole life._

In the beginning I pitied him, but soon I found I'd developed an admiration for this boy. Despite the pain and loneliness he suffered through during those years, he put on a strong façade and kept going.

Observing him taught me so much, and what started as curiosity became admiration, which eventually developed into a crush. Years passed and my feelings still haven't changed- if not, they've only intensified.

[…]

Naruto takes a seat on one of the benches. He gets comfortable, stretching his legs out and digging his heels into the grass, then he pats the spot next to him.

"C'mon," he says.

I take a seat a few inches away from him. He puts the bag down on the bench between us and fishes out the bowls of ice cream. He uses his fingers to pry the plastic lids off of both of them, then hands me mine;

"Happy birthday, Hinata-_chan."_

_The way he said that… _I feel my cheeks reddening, so I look down at my bowl and start to dig my spoon into the ice cream, but I only take a small amount. It's already cold outside, so I don't know why he wanted to eat _ice cream, _but I guess I don't really mind. Naruto's already taking big spoonfuls and eating too fast. _Should I tell him?…_

"N-Naruto-kun…," I start. I actually have his attention now, and my cheeks are burning once again. "I-I just-"

"Yeah?"

I hesitate. "-don't think you should eat too fast!…, you could get a brain freeze."

His chewing slows as he considers this. "True, true."

A few minutes pass in silence. I continue eating slowly, while he's already down to his last spoonful.

"Dang, I'm already out," he says. He stands up to throw his bowl away and sits back down, seemingly closer than before. Before I can open my mouth for the next spoonful, I notice his lips curl into a mischievous grin.

"N-Naruto-kun?…"

He doesn't respond; instead, he leans in, closer to my face. My heartbeat has once again quickened into an irregular pattern. My blush deepens. But I don't jerk my head away. _Naruto-kun… He's so close… Is this it?_

"Naru-" Before I finish he opens his mouth and takes the ice cream straight from my spoon. He laughs.

"Sorry," he scratches the back of his head, "I guess I didn't get enough."

_Amaya Shimizu_

"Peppermint mocha," Ino chants before taking a sip. "Want some, Shikamaru~?" She asks while walking away from the pick-up counter.

"No thanks," he says and smiles before taking her hand again. _I wish Hinata was here… _I think. Then I could ask without being called clueless or stupid for not knowing. _Wait…, no. It's definitely obvious that they _are _dating… I think. _I can't help but hold just the tiniest bit of doubt about it. _I need someone to confirm it for me!_

I pull Sakura aside.

"Sheesh Amaya, you're gonna make me spill my coffee!" She complains as she wipes a small drop off of her hand. "Anyways, what is it?"

"So don't criticize me for doubting something that may seem so obvious…," I begin, and turn to make sure Shikamaru and Ino aren't listening. "But are Shikamaru and Ino…?"

"…Going out?" She completes. I nod and she laughs. "Yeah! They actually started around… three months ago? I'm pretty sure."

"Oh okay, thanks."

"I can't believe you had to ask though."

"Whatever," I laugh it off. "I'm gonna go wait for mine."

I stand by the pick-up counter, waiting for my name to be called. _Any second now… _I look around the café. It's small but warm and cozy. The windows are tinted slightly blue, and there's somebody looking inside. _Wait… _He looks familiar, but all I can really make out from here is his short, choppy, dark brown hair.

"_Amaya?" _Someone calls from behind the counter. I take my order and on my way back I notice the guy from outside has come in. His hazel eyes meet mine for a second as we pass each other. _I'm probably just imagining it…_

"What'd you get?" Sakura asks.

"…Hot chocolate."

She starts giggling. "You're such a kid! It's cute," my face warms. I just take a sip and ignore it.

"I _am _younger than you, you know."

"Really? How old are you?"

"Fifteen," I mumble.

"Seriously?!" Ino joins.

"Y-Yeah…"

"Then how come you aren't a sophomore?"

"I skipped a grade when I was in Kiriga," I explain briefly.

"Ohh…" Sakura drinks some of her coffee. "Okay."

"You little nerd," Ino jokes. But it kinda hurts.

"Please, d-don't."

They look at me with concern.

"Sorry Amaya, was that too much?" Ino starts to apologize.

I shake my head. "No, it's just that that's what people used to tease me about at my old school. It's sick, I tell you. How some people immediately come to the conclusion that you're a freak just because you're smart."

"You just get used to it, and ignore it," Shikamaru tells me. "I mean…, you can't let it affect the way you act or think."

"Yeah!" Ino starts speaking again. "Shikamaru used to be teased a lot like that, too. May not seem like it, but he's actually a genius."

"'_May not seem like it'? _I'm offended," Shikamaru sighs.

"I'm just teasing, calm down," she nudges him.

"Well," I smile, "I guess I don't have to worry about that here."

"Of course," Sakura says.

My phone goes off.

New Text Message

From: Hinata Hyuga

_Are you guys done? We should meet up again._

"Who is it? Hinata?" Kiba, who's been silent for this whole time, finally asks.

"Yeah. She asked if we were done."

"Then tell her we are."

I nod and begin pressing buttons on my phone.

Compose New Text Message

To: Hinata Hyuga

_Yeah, what about you?_

She replies immediately:

_Yeah. We should regroup._

_Where are you? _I send.

_The park. We'll wait for you._

"So?" Kiba urges, "What did she say?"

"We should regroup at the park area," I tell him. He stands and tells the rest of them. We all stand up and push our chairs back in, then throw empty coffee cups away on our way out.

[…]

"There they are," Sakura points. "Naruto!"

Naruto turns to us and waves, "Hey!"

When we get closer, I can see Hinata has her hands folded in her lap and she's twiddling her thumbs. Her eyes look down at her lap and her the red in her cheeks are fading to a softer pink.

"So what do you wanna do?" Ino asks. Hinata stops playing with her thumbs and looks at her.

"W-Well I dunno… What about you?"

"No idea," Sakura answers instead.

"I have one," Ino grins. "There's this new clothing store…"

[…]

"Hinata! Come here," Ino shouts from the fitting rooms. We ended up separating from the guys. TenTen went with them, too.

"Okay." As soon as she passes through the doorway, she's pulled in. I go there and check to see what's happening.

"Try these on," Ino and Sakura are both smiling and holding various articles of clothing in their hands.

"B-But-"

"Nope," Sakura starts pushing her inside one of the stalls and closes the door.

While Hinata changes, they start looking around more.

"Sakura," Ino holds up a frilly red skirt, waiting for some kind of response.

"_Ew, _no," she waves her hand dismissively.

Ino sighs, "Thought so."

"Oi, Amaya, don't just sit there," Sakura pokes me.

"But I don't really need anything," I tell her.

"So? Look around. _Or we'll do it for you," _she smirks.

I shrug. "Do what you want."

[…]

"_Do what you want"?! _I think, when they return with armfuls of clothing. _What the hell was I thinking?_

"And in you go," Ino shoves me into the stall next to Hinata's, and I'm about to object, when about three tons of clothes are thrown at me, causing me to fall back and let them pile up like a mountain on top of me. _Dammit. Is this half of the store?!_

I hear the door open next to me.

"_You pulled it off better than I expected," _Ino's voice is muffled as I try to change.

"_You should get it, Hinata," _Sakura says. _"It's a nice… Well, a _change _of image, you could say."_

"_W-Well…" _Hinata sounds hesitant.

"_We'll buy it for you! It's your birthday, after all."_

"_B-But it's not really…"_

"_It'll make you stand out," _Ino tells her. _"It'll make Naruto notice you~"_

Now I'm curious as to what it is they chose for her. I quickly slip on a random blouse and come out.

"Hey I'm-" I start, but I don't finish because I hear another door shut. _I missed it!_

"What the-"

"Um…" Ino and Sakura both stare at me. I look down to see what I subconsciously put on: black-and-white zigzag patterned leggings and a yellow-and-teal vertically striped blouse. They burst out laughing.

"I-I'm sorry, can I take a picture of this?" Sakura giggles.

"We gave you so many choices! Why did you pair them like _that?" _She gestures at the entire outfit.

I sigh. "I dunno, okay? I just took the first two things at the top of the pile. I'm gonna go back."

I walk back in and change into my original outfit consisting of light jeans, a blue/white striped shirt, and yellow jacket. When I walk out, Hinata is sitting on the bench outside the stalls. She isn't wearing anything different, just the white sweater, pants, and beanie she came with. Sakura and Ino aren't looking around the store.

"Where'd they go?" I ask. She points to two other stalls.

"They decided to try on some things, too."

"_Ugh!" _Sakura bursts through the door. "Nothing here _works _on me. Did you find anything, Hinata?"

"No…"

"_Go look," _Ino says from the stall. _"Choose another birthday gift, k?"_

"N-No, it's okay," she starts playing with her thumbs again.

"Not even for Naruto, Hinata?" Sakura pouts. "Even Ino's trying for Shikamaru."

"But t-that's different… I mean they're dating already."

"Well you still have to make an effort," she puts her hands on her hips. "I'm still trying for- for-" She hides her face between her fingers now, and her tone is suddenly dreamy; _"-Sasuke-kun."_

"_Sheesh, I can't believe you still like him," _Ino finally walks out with two blouses over her arm.

"Can't blame me. _You _used to like him, too."

"Point is, I got over him a _long _time ago." She walks to the register and pays for the blouses. Aside from Ino, we all leave the store empty-handed. Sakura looks annoyed and Hinata seems content despite not getting anything.

[…]

"So where'd you guys go?" Ino asks when we meet up with the guys and TenTen again.

"Some electronics store by the move theater," Shikamaru answers.

"It's getting late," says a boy with sunglasses on.

"Ah-" I look at Kiba and Sakura for some introduction. Sakura begins gesturing towards him.

"Amaya, this is Shino."

"Shino Aburame," he clarifies.

"Amaya Shimizu," I tell him, then put out my hand. Instead of shaking, he just nods.

"_Don't take it personally," _Sakura whispers. _"He doesn't really like physical contact." _I nod back.

"Anyways," Shikamaru interrupts, "the sun _is _starting to go down already. I think I should get home."

"Same here," TenTen says.

"I'll go, too."

"Yeah…"

"T-Thanks for coming, everyone," Hinata smiles and waves.

"Here, Hinata," Kiba hands her the plastic bag.

"Thanks."

"Like I said before, it's nothing." He starts walking away backwards, so he's still facing us, with one of his arms sticking out as he scratches the back of his head. With the other arm, he waves. "Ja ne~"

The rest of us follow as he did, saying bye and walking, eventually separating into different paths to get home.

_Hinata Hyuga_

Everyone's gone now. Today wasn't bad, but I still haven't confessed to Naruto-kun yet. I blew the one opportunity I had earlier, when we were alone…

"Oi, Hinata!" His voice makes me jump. _I thought everyone left?…_

I turn around. I half-expected it to be Kiba, deciding to stay for a while longer, but it's-

"_N-Naruto-kun?…"_

"Well who else would it be? Everyone else left already. Anyways, what do you wanna do now?"

"I-I…" _This is my chance. _"D-don't know…" _Maybe not._

"It's only like six or seven, Hinata!"

I remain silent, so he speaks up again:

"You wanna walk to the park? Not this one, though. The one near the elementary school."

I smile. "Sure."

[…]

We're less than a mile away now, but even though it _is _only seven, it's already dark.

"Here," Naruto says. The park is right in front of us: a small area of sand with slides and swings, surrounded by a grassy field. He walks over to the swings and sits on one. _Just like back then…, _I think. He gestures at the swing next to him, so I take a seat.

I start moving my legs so that the swing sways a little, then I take a look up. I see Naruto in my peripheral vision, doing the same.

"They seem to get brighter around this season," I say.

"The stars?" Naruto pauses. "Yeah. They are." I guess he would know, if he's still been coming here often. _Does he really want me to stay, or does he just need a reason to not go home?_

I didn't really take Naruto as the star-gazing type, but I guess there's still a lot that I don't know about him. A lot I still have to find out. We're quiet, just looking up and observing the stars, but the tension is driving me mad. _Should I say something? Should I tell him?_

"Aren't you cold, Hinata?" I guess I never really noticed it'd gotten so cold because I was distracted by Naruto. My sweater isn't helping much.

"Here," he starts unzipping his jacket.

"W-Wait!… Y-You don't need to." He slips it off anyways.

"I don't really need it." He tosses it to me and watches as I stand up to put it on. "Sorry, might be too big."

Its sleeves go past my hands, and it looks more like an oversized dress with the way it goes down to the middle of my thighs. _This is ridiculous, _I think, but I'm grateful. Naruto's warmth lingers throughout the jacket, and more heat spreads up to my cheeks.

"A-Arigatou. But are you sure you'll be alright?" I ask a I sit back down.

"Yeah." He's wearing a short-sleeved t-shirt. _How can he not be cold?_

It's silent again. We find ourselves looking up again.

_Naruto Uzumaki_

Once again, I find myself in this place, star-gazing. Except this time, I'm not alone. Hinata sits next to me, looking up too. We don't talk, but I guess her presence is enough.

I know it's cold, but I can barely feel it. She definitely does, though, because she still shudders a little, even with my jacket on.

I can't tell if this silence is peaceful, or just plain awkward, but after five minutes of this, she breaks it.

"N-Naruto-kun…," she begins, "can I ask you something?"

"Yeah?"

"…What do you do when you like someone… But you can't bring yourself to say or do anything about it?" _Why is she asking _me, _of all people?  
_"I guess…, you'd just have to overcome your fear of, I dunno… rejection? Because if you can just get it over with and tell them, you'd get some kind of response. It doesn't matter if you _do _get rejected- at least you got _some_ kind of response, and that helps you either move on, or keep trying." I find myself telling her this from experience.

"Has it happened to you before?" She asks.

"Not _exactly… _I guess that in my case, I just need to learn how to give up- no, move on and get over it. It's hopeless, because I know that she knows how I feel, but she still likes someone else, and she won't ever give up on him. I need to find someone who'll feel the same way. I need to end something so…one-sided, but I guess I just…_can't._ " _Sakura…_

"I guess I need to, too…" Hinata's head is down so her bangs cast shadows over her eyes. She's twiddling her thumbs.

"Why, Hinata?"

"Because the person I like is so…oblivious. I can't help but feel a little selfish, though, because I know he likes someone already…" She stops playing with her thumbs and drops her hands into her lap.

"Isn't it ironic, Naruto-kun?" She lifts her head to face me. Her eyes close as her lips curve up into a smile, but I can tell how much pain she bears behind it. "Because the one I like…" She leaves a long, agonizing pause, and for a moment, I forget about Sakura, about Sasuke- about all of it.

"_Is you."_

**Author's Note:**

_**I know this chapter was a bit…lengthier, but it's okay. Anyways…, I'll give credit to evanestfacade for helping me write and giving me more ideas.**_

_**Chapter 10 has been released as of November 1**__**st**__**~!**_

_**Thanks for reading & being patient (:**_

**DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN NARUTO/NARUTO: SHIPPUDEN!**


	10. New Year's Eve

Konoha High

10 - New Year's Eve

_Hinata Hyuga_

I wake up at eight in the morning, but I don't leave my bed. I can't stop thinking about the events that occurred yesterday…

_The night before…_

"Because the one I like…" I paused. _"Is you."_

The silence that followed my confession was painful. I opened my eyes again but I kept smiling.

I shouldn't have been worried. Naruto said it himself; that it's better to get it over with and get a response. _But he wasn't responding._

A sigh escaped through my lips. I laughed a little. "You said it's better to get it over with, so I did… I know that you like Sakura-chan already," I said.

"So you don't need to say anything. I already know what your response will be." I stood up. "It's okay, Naruto-kun." My forced smile widened.

I started walking, but a hand enclosed around my wrist before I could take my third step. I turned around. He wore a melancholy smile. _Why?_

"It's really depressing," he began, "to realize how well I know the feeling."

"Naruto…"

"I'm sorry, Hinata," he looked up at me. "I'm sorry I couldn't figure it out myself. I'm sorry I was so caught up with Sakura, even though this whole time… It's my fault, really, that I never noticed."

Naruto stood up and took a step closer so that he was right in front of me. He reached down and took my other wrist, then pulled my hands to his chest.

"You know…" he leaned in, his face just mere centimeters from mine. "I think I'm over Sakura now."

He smiled, for real this time. "Thank you," he said, his voice almost a whisper. "For helping me move on."

_[End of flashback]_

I find myself smiling, and I blush at the thought of what happens next, grateful that nobody's here to see it.

"_Hinata-sama!" _Neji-nii calls. _"Are you awake?"_

"Yeah!" I call back. "I'll be down in a minute!"

I start changing into knee-length leggings and a loose, oversized t-shirt, then I tie my hair up into a loose bun. I climb down, out of my room, and start heading outside to the "other" house. And by that, I mean _yes_, we do literally have a second house. Our parents liked the idea of having a more traditional Japanese-style house with the sliding doors, tatami matted-floors, etc.

I walk through a door and stop right where the wood cuts off, about two feet above the actual ground. The second house is connected to this main house because the walls of both houses meet to enclose a square-shaped area with no roof above it. My family likes to call it an "indoor backyard"; a courtyard, which is now right in front of me.

It's large, with a pond big enough to be a swimming pool in the center. There's a small waterfall that drops into the pond, and a red, wooden bridge that goes over it. The pond's surrounded by grass, and flowers grow on the ends, along with two or three cherry blossom trees.

I always have two options once I stop here: I can either continue following the wooden floor, going _around_ the yard…, or I can continue walking forward and step down, onto a wooden step that leads you _into _it. Today, (and basically every other day,) I find myself choosing the second option.

I walk down, onto the wooden step, and then down again, where my bare feet touch the grass. I walk onto the bridge, where I pause to look at the cherry blossoms, which are just barely starting to bloom.

"_Hinata-sama!" _Neji's losing patience. I sprint the remaining distance between where I stand on the bridge and the step leading up to the other house.

"I-I'm-" I catch my breath. "I'm here."

[…]

"Late, once again," Neji sighs. "You need to start taking this more seriously, okay?"

"Understood, Neji-nii."

He slides the door open and walks inside, through the narrow hallways with two doors on either side, and into a large, empty room.

His feet make a tapping noise against the wood as he walks to the opposite side of the room, then takes a defensive fighting stance.

"Ready?" He asks.

"Yeah." As soon as the word leaves my mouth, his hand is already at my throat. _He's fast._

"Too slow," he says. "I meant it when I said to take this seriously. Taijutsu isn't a joke here, Hinata."

"I know, Neji-nii."

"Again!" He shouts, and tries the same trick, but I block immediately.

He pulls his arm back and we start trying to land hits. The only ones that _do _land are innocuous. Attempt a hit, evade. Attempt another hit, block again- this pattern continues and can last up to five minutes until we pick up the pace.

Neji lands a hit to my rib cage, causing me to fall on my back, onto the floor.

"Get up!"

I try to as quickly as I can. When I'm back on my feet, his hand is already coming back to get me in the neck. I step back and smack his arm up, away from me.

"Good," he says as we continue. _Hit. Block. Hit. Block._

[…]

My forehead is covered with sweat, and I find myself taking deeper, heavier breaths.

"Done already?" Neji asks, but I know it's a rhetorical question. He gives a competitive glare as he gets back to his original stance. His hand gestures for me to attack, so I start running and try to land the first hit.

I miss, and the cycle begins again. _Hit. Block. Hit. Block. Hit… _My speed is decreasing more and more as we continue to fight. Sweat starts dripping from my forehead, down my chin, and onto the ground. He attempts another hit, and I just barely dodge it. I can tell my body's reacting a lot slower now. He goes again, and this time gets me in the stomach. I put out my hands to catch myself, then use my knee to help me stand up again.

"You're lucky we weren't using chakra," he says.

"I know." Neji studies the things our parents do in their medical careers. They (as in my parents and his mother) are successful as doctors focusing mainly on nerves and chakra points. He taught me about the chakra points in a person's body that, if hit with enough of somebody else's chakra, could injure and potentially kill them.

"You need to work on your endurance," he says, but then he smiles. "You're doing a lot better, though."

I bow, "Thank you for helping me again today, Neji-nii."

He shakes his head, "I'm glad to help."

I start walking out of the house, eager to check my phone. _"Hinata…," _Naruto's voice resonated inside my head.

I step down, cross over the bridge, step _up, _then continue through the door, all the way back to my room. My phone sits on top of my bedside table, its screen lit. I snatch it from the table immediately, excited and nervous and happy all at the same time to find out who messaged me.

From: Amaya Shimizu

_Hey so I was thinking…, why don't we all meet up again? We could visit the shrine on New Year's Eve and wait until midnight._

It wasn't Naruto, but I'm still happy. I'm glad Amaya is trying to plan an event herself.

To: Amaya Shimizu

_That sounds nice (: Of course I'll go! Where and what time do you wanna meet?_

From: Amaya Shimizu

_I'm gonna wait to see how everybody else responds, just to get an idea of how many people are gonna come._

I smile at the thought of everyone meeting up, _again. _We've already spent so much time together in the past week, but I never get tired of seeing them.

I put my phone down, remembering that I'm still all sweaty from today's training. My parents had me start Taijutsu right after the incident with Naruto and those other kids in elementary school. It's tiring, but I don't mind, knowing that once I'm strong enough to defend myself, I won't be a burden to Neji anymore.

I walk into the bathroom and turn the handle until warm water is pouring out of the showerhead, then I get ready to take a shower.

_Amaya Shimizu_

My phone is frequently vibrating because of all the responses I'm getting. I decided that, for once, I'd try to plan something myself, instead of just being invited by everyone else. It seems rude and impersonal of me to just go but not host anything myself.

I sent a message to everybody asking if they could meet up at the shrine on New Year's Eve. I mean, it's a tradition to go there, get fortunes told, pray for the upcoming year, maybe eat a little, then wait until midnight for it to finally be New Year's Day.

I tried to invite everybody whose numbers I have…, so only Ino, Sakura, TenTen, Hinata, Shikamaru, and Kiba. I'm waiting for Sakura or Ino (because I figured they're very…social) to give me everyone else's numbers. I'm missing Naruto's, Choji's, Lee's, and Neji's.

New Text Message

From: Ino Yamanaka

_I've attached all of their numbers here:_

_[5 attachments]_

I reply:

_Thanks, I'll tell you what they say._

I'm about to hit send, when I realize how many contacts she sent me. _Five?…_

To: Ino Yamanaka

_Thanks, but why did you attach five?_

I send that instead. My phone beeps immediately.

_Oh, yeah, well I felt bad for Sakura since Sasuke didn't come to any of the other events so…, do you mind inviting Sasuke this time? Pleeeeeaaaase?_

_Fine, _I type, _But if things get awkward I'm blaming you._

She doesn't reply, so I just text each number to see who's who.

[…]

_Finally. _Most of them replied, and now I have all the contacts sorted out.

To: Naruto, Neji, Choji, Lee, Sasuke

_Planning on going to the shrine on New Year's Eve. You wanna come? Hinata, Ino, Sakura, Shikamaru, and Kiba are all already going for sure._

I wait for replies.

Earlier, only four people texted back, leaving one number without a name to distinguish it: Sasuke's. I texted him again anyway, and now I just hope that he'll go, because I really don't wanna disappoint Sakura.

_Sasuke, ya damn bastard, _I think, _If you skip out on us again, I swear I will punch you in the face when we go back to school._

[…]

An hour later, I have texts from everybody (except Sasuke) confirming that they're gonna go. It's three days from now, but I'm already excited.

"Amaya!" Aiko calls. "Dinner!"

"K!" I yell back and start walking out of my room and to the kitchen. The food's all set out on the table, and I sit at the empty chair across from Aiko. We clap our hands twice.

"_Itadakimasu."_

I begin eating, but I can see Aiko staring at me.

"So?" She asks.

"What?"

"Your plans, are they all going?"

"How did you know?"

"I know how you think," she smirks. "…and I kinda looked through your phone while you were taking a shower." _I swear, this woman…_

"You looked through _my phone?!" _I calm myself. _I have nothing to hide. _"…Well yeah, they're all going. So now I have to set a time and place."

She takes a sip from her coffee mug, then puts it down and faces me again. "I'll leave you to pull through with it, then. Oh, I'm going somewhere at around 6:30, so I'm gonna start getting ready soon."

"Why?"

"I'm meeting my friend TenTen at Ichiraku to study." _Well maybe we could meet up _there _before going the shrine._

"Wait, you know TenTen?"

"Yeah…, she's in my class." _Right. I always forget she's a grade ahead of me._

"Alright…, well I'm definitely not gonna let them meet up _here."_

"Why not?" She stands up and puts her dishes into the sink. I didn't even notice how quickly she was eating.

"Because some of my friends are kinda…" I dunno how to end that.

"Well okay. If you end up changing your mind, I don't really care. As long as they don't mess up the house."

"Yeah I know." I finish eating and put my dishes in the sink and start washing them.

_Three more days…_

_Aiko Shimizu_

While Amaya washes the dishes, I go back to my room and start getting out casual winter clothes to pick from: a few long-sleeved shirts, sweaters, jackets, and jeans.

I select a plain red sweater and dark blue jeans, then a black trench coat with buttons across the torso. When I finish putting these on, I put on a pair of socks and dig through my closet a little to find my black combat boots.

I'm done changing, so I put all of the extra clothes back into my closet. I walk out, through the short hallway, and into the bathroom. When I look in the mirror, I realize my brown hair is a mess, but I don't see the comb that usually sits on the bathroom counter.

"Amaya!"

"Yeah?" I hear her voice from the kitchen.

"Do you have the hair comb?"

"Uhh yeah, it's on my bedside table."

"K thanks." I see it as soon as I go into her room, and take it back to the bathroom.

I try brushing some of my hair down. _Ouch. _The first stroke always hurts, but I continue until it's neat again. Then I put down the comb and open a small bag I keep on the counter. Inside is all of my make up, but I only take out the mascara and tinted lip balm. I start applying them, but only a little bit. Amaya complains that I use too much make up even though I apparently "don't need it", so today I'm keeping it simple.

[…]

"Amaya!" I call as I pick up my bag. _"Ittekimasu!"_

"_Itterashai!"_

I stick my phone into my pocket as I walk through the door to the garage, then I close it before taking the keys out of my bag. When I open the garage, it's not too cold, and the snow is gentle. Instead of getting in the car, I close the garage and leave through the front door, locking it behind me and putting the keys back in my bag. _I don't mind walking for once…_

[…]

"Welcome!" Teuchi says as I duck under Ichiraku's red banner.

"Oi, Teuchi," I say. "What's new?"

"On the menu or with me?" He laughs.

"Both, I guess," I grin back as I take a seat and open the menu.

"Well, there's one new recipe for ramen. It's for if you're on a diet. And as for me, nothing, really. So what are you gonna have?"

"Sorry, but I think I'll just have water and miso soup today." He takes my menu and starts preparing the soup.

_Where's TenTen? _I wonder, and place my bag on the seat my left to reserve it. I hear somebody step in behind me. Now a guy with dark eyes and long, black hair is standing next to my chair.

"Do you mind if I sit here?" He asks, pointing to the chair on my right.

"Not at all." He sits down and waits for Teuchi. I just put my elbows on the counter and sigh because I was really hoping that the person who came in would be TenTen. I look at this guy again. He has creases, I think, under his eyes and his hair's pulled back in a loose ponytail, kind of like Neji's. He's wearing an unzipped black jacket over a gray, low-necked t-shirt exposing his collarbone and a necklace with three silver, teardrop-shaped pendants. _Not bad._

"Sorry!" TenTen pushes the banner out of her face, panting. "Seems like I'm always late nowadays," she mutters.

"It's alright," I say and lift my bag so that she can sit. "What happened, anyway?"

"Overslept."

"At 7 p.m.?"

"I take afternoon naps, _okay? _Don't judge me," she pouts. Then she opens her menu and sees the new item.

"Apparently," I tell her, "It's for people on diets."

"Really? Teuchi-san!" He comes back and puts a steaming down in front of me.

"Yeah?"

"I'll have the new menu item~"

"Got it," he turns to the guy who came in earlier. "And what about you?"

"So…" I start to pull the textbook out of my bag.

"Can't you wait until we finish eating?" TenTen whines.

"_Fine." _I put it back in and wait for Teuchi to bring her food back.

[…]

"This isn't bad," TenTen slurps the noodles.

"I should get it next time," I say, then take a spoonful of the miso soup. I tried not to order a lot since I just ate with Amaya. I just came to study…

"So what are you gonna do on New Years?" She asks.

"Not sure yet. I was thinking about visiting the shrine, but I don't know."

"Oh, right. I'm going on New Year's Eve; your sister invited me."

"Yeahh, she told me about it."

"Still have no idea what time yet, though."

"She's still figuring all of that out," I empty my bowl. "I'll remind her when I get home later."

"Thanks. You should go, too!"

"Maybe~"

TenTen's phone goes off.

"Hello? Yeah? She- _What? _Okay. Okay! Give me like ten minutes, God!"

"What ha-" Before I can finish asking, she's already starting to duck under the banner again.

"Sorry!" She apologizes. "My parents' shop is getting busy and they need me. Next time, I promise!"

She didn't even pay for her ramen. I sigh and open my bag. _Where is it? _I keep feeling around, but my hand comes out of my bag, empty. _I forgot my wallet._

"T-Teuchi-san," I start to say. "I don't-"

"Here." The guy on my right taps two ¥1,000 bills down on the counter and pushes them slightly towards me.

I hand them to Teuchi and face him again. _"Arigatou… gozaimashita."_

"No problem," he continues eating. I take out the textbook, a small notebook, and a pencil. _I guess I'll just study without her._

[…]

"That's wrong," says the dude next to me. _What?_

"Excuse me?" I ask him.

"I mean," he starts pointing at my paper. "You weren't supposed to use the reciprocal here, and then _here, _you rewrote it wrong. It's negative, not positive. So your answer isn't right." I look over my work. _He's right…_

I don't say anything, and start reworking the problem.

"That's right." _Can you please just _stop _already?_

I continue working through this page of math, with him occasionally commenting on an error I made. At some point, he finishes his food and I find myself studying with him as if _he _was the one I was supposed to meet in the first place.

"How do you do this one?" I ask.

"Well-" _Beep! _My phone goes off before he can start explaining.

New Text Message

From: Amaya

_Aiko are you done yet?_

Compose New Text Message

To: Amaya

_Almost, why?_

While waiting for a reply, I finish the problem.

"Now…, reverse this. It makes it easier to solve because you won't have to simplify these."

"Okay…"

New Text Message

From: Amaya

_Because we need more Ramune and rice for onigiri._

_We just ate dinner!_

_Pleeeeeeeaaaseeeee…_

_Fine. I'll be home in like an hour._

"Sorry, my younger sister needed something."

"It's okay, I understand. I have a younger brother, too."

"Well…" I say, standing up. "I have to go get something for her. Nice meeting you."

He starts to stand, too. _Was he just staying to help me?_

We both duck under the banner and start to walk in opposite directions. _Wait… _I call out to him before we get too far.

"Hey!" He turns around. "Thanks for everything, err…, I didn't get your name."

"It's Itachi Uchiha," he laughs. "I'm in your class, actually."

"O-Oh…," My face starts to redden. "Well, thanks, Itachi."

"You're welcome."

"Well…, I'm Aiko Shimizu."

"It was nice meeting you too, Aiko-san."

[…]

I go to the convenience store and walk all the way to the back, where all of the refrigerated drinks are. Ramune's on the bottom shelves, usually. I scan through all the different bottles of soda until I see a transparent label with red print: Strawberry Ramune. I pick up the six-pack and start walking to the counter.

"Is this all for today, miss?" The cashier asks while getting out a plastic bag.

"Yes, thank you," I smile and start to reach into my bag for my wallet. _Wait… _My hand keeps digging around. _Dammit! _I completely forgot that I didn't even _bring _it. The cashier is still looking at me expectantly. I smile awkwardly, and I can feel my feel my face turning red as I take the walk of shame back to the drink section just to return the Ramune.

When I leave the store, the snow has stopped falling, leaving the city coated with a layer of white. My feet sink a little whenever I take a step and I can tell my jeans are going to be damp by the time I get home. I really wish I'd just taken the car, but I try to enjoy the walk back anyway.

I check my phone. It's 8:14 p.m. I look up and the stars are out, shining bright. The lights that haven't been taken down from Christmas are starting to light up, coloring the snow with blues, reds, and greens. _Guess I don't regret leaving the car after all._

_Hinata Hyuga_

Eight o'clock p.m. and I'm sitting in bed with a book in my lap. Earlier, I realized I hadn't touched the blue plastic bag of presents since yesterday, so I decided to open them all. When I got to the purple present Kiba got me, I read the card attached to the top:

_Happy Birthday, Hinata!_

_- Kiba_

When I opened it, there were three books inside. I'd talked about them before, but I didn't think anyone would remember. I'm glad Kiba did, but now I can't put this book down.

I'm really grateful for having Kiba as my best friend. It feels like I can talk or ask him about anything. He can tell when something's wrong, he always helps me (I don't even need to ask), he is always supporting me, and he is always there for me.

I set my book aside and pick up my phone, then I start to dial his number- I need to tell him about Naruto. I actually feel kinda guilty for not telling him right away.

Before I can finish, my phone beeps.

New Text Message

From: Amaya Shimizu

_So everybody's going! We'll all meet in front of Ichiraku at 8:30 on the 30__th__. See you then~_

And then my phone rings again, but this time, it doesn't stop. My heart skips a beat when I see who's calling me:

_Incoming call from Naruto Namikaze…_

I push answer and exhale before saying, "Hello?"

"_Oi, Hinata?"_

"Yeah?"

"_Amaya-chan said everybody's meeting up to go visit the shrine tomorrow. That means you're going, too, right?"_

"Yeah, why?"

"_What time are you gonna leave for Ichiraku, then?"_

"She said 8:30..., so I guess I'll leave at 8."

"_Okay, just wondering. Bye~"_

"Na-" _Click. _He's gone. I sigh and open my book again.

_Aiko Shimizu_

"_Tadaima!"_ I shout as I enter our house. Amaya's sitting on the couch with her laptop.

"_Okairi," _she mutters, taking off her headphones. "So? Where are they?" She looks up at me expectantly.

"Oh…, sorry. I forgot my wallet…"

"You forgot? Aiko-nee…" She whines.

"Sorry Amaya, I'll get them for you when we go out on New Year's Eve." She raises her eyebrows.

"Wait, _'we'? _You're going, too?"

"If you don't mind," I say. "I'd like to pay a visit to the shrine, too, you know."

"Yeah I'm fine with it, I just didn't think you'd actually go."

"Why not?"

"I dunno. Well we're going to Ichiraku first."

"Okay. I can drive this time… unless you wanna walk," I add.

"If it's not snow storming again, why not?" She stands up and takes a juice box from the fridge, then sits back down on the couch. She puts her headphones back on and starts watching some show again, like she always does.

_New Year's Eve_

_Naruto Uzumaki_

"Naruto!" Somebody calls from the downstairs.

"What?!" I shout back. Nobody replies, so I run down and check to see who called me. A spiky, white mess of hair hits me in the face as someone turns around. _Jiraiya._

"What do _you _want?" I ask, a little more hostility in my voice than I had hoped.

"Where are you going?" He gestures down at my clothes: a red t-shirt with the Leaf symbol on the front, white hoodie, and jeans.

"It's New Year's Eve," I say.

"So?" I can smell the alcohol on his breath.

"_So, _I'm going to go see my friends."

"Ha, _friends?" _I hate when he's like this. He's a good guy…when he isn't drunk. When I don't respond, he continues talking: "Anyways, you shouldn't go out. Your parents would be disappointed that they couldn't celebrate with you."

I ignore him and go back upstairs to finish getting ready, but my mind races furiously. _He can't tell me what to do. And my _parents?! _Why would he even bring them into this? He knows they don't give a shit about what I do because they're too busy with their own damn lives. Why do I- _Calm. Down. _Calm down…_

My room doesn't have a mirror, so I go to the bathroom across the hall to check. My spiky blonde hair is up and sticking out everywhere. I know it's probably useless, but I try to brush it down anyways. _I need to make an attempt to look nice tonight._

And… I was right. My hair still looks like a mess, but then again, I'm pretty sure everyone else considers it normal now. I go back to my room and grab three things off of my desk: phone, wallet, and keys. I stick my phone and wallet into one pocket, then my keys in the other.

"Jiraiya!" I yell as I walk downstairs. He stumbles out of the kitchen with what I assume is his second or third bottle of who-knows-what in his right hand.

"What?"

"Lock the door," I say just before shutting it behind me.

[…]

I'm walking to Hinata's house. _Thank God it's not snowing like it was on Christmas. _I hope that it comes as a surprise to her when I get there, but I'm kinda nervous myself.

Thinking back to it, I can't believe I was even able to ask her that night. I'll never forget the surprised look on her face when I asked her; she started blushing madly, but then she smiled. An honest smile; one that had nothing hiding behind it but actual happiness. When I got home, I remember smiling, too, because I knew her decision would turn out to be a good thing for both of us.

[…]

I walk up the steps to her front door then check the time on my phone: 7:58. I'm a bit hesitant, but I finally bring myself to knock. When Hinata opens the door, I outstretch my arms and pull her into a hug. We separate, and she does it again- her face turns red and she starts playing with her thumbs.

"What are you doing here?" She asks, then adds quickly, "I- I mean, I thought we were going to meet at Ichiraku."

I grin, "Well…" I scratch the back of my head. "I thought we should walk there together." _There. There! I said it! _"I hope I didn't get here at a bad time?…"

"N-No, of course not! Let me just go get my stuff." She leaves the door open before running off, then comes back with her bag. "Neji-nii! Itterashai!" She calls out before closing the door.

"He's gonna be at the shrine later," she says.

"Well okay."

Crap…, what am I supposed to say? What am I supposed to do? Do I let her borrow my jacket again? _No…, she's already wearing one. _Do I put my arm around her? Do I hold her hand? _Gahh, why does the guy always have to deal with this kinda stuff?!_

I glance to my right, at her. She's still has on a small smile but she looks down awkwardly. _Okay…, _I put my hands in the pockets of my hoodie then start walking a little closer to her. Our elbows make contact. I put take my hand out of my pocket and let my arm hang down. Closer again, and my arm starts to brush up against hers slightly. Just a little bit closer… There's about a centimeter-wide gap between our hands. _Here goes…_

As soon as my hand touches hers, she flinches. _Am I doing this wrong?!_

_Hinata Hyuga_

I try to look at Naruto as we walk to Ichiraku together, but I just can't. I think that avoiding eye contact might be even worse, though. It's too quiet, too. _Come on, Hinata. Say something! Anything! Come on- What is that?! _Something touches my hand; I flinch.

I almost smack whatever it is away, when I look down and realize that it was _Naruto's _hand. I see his fingers extend, as if reaching for my hand. _What am I supposed to do?! _His hand starts to enclose around mine and I awkwardly try to move my fingers to fit into the spaces between his. I smile, but I'm pretty sure he can't see it. _I'm so glad I didn't smack his hand away._

_Naruto Namikaze_

It was a bit of a struggle, but we've got it. My cheeks start to warm up at the thought.

I know we're finally holding hands and all, but it's still _too quiet. _What should I say?

"Don't you think this'll come as a surprise to them when we get there?" Hinata breaks the silence.

"Tch, they're not gonna leave us alone!"

"…Do you just not want to tell them then?" She glances at me then quickly looks away again.

"Heck no." My grip on her hand tightens a little as some sign of reassurance. "They have a right to know."

[…]

"Hey!" Amaya calls from one of the tables when we arrive at Ichiraku. We walk there to meet who else has already gotten here.

_Amaya Shimizu_

I call to Hinata and Naruto, who enter together. I look at who else they're joining at the table: Ino, Shikamaru, Aiko, and Kiba. Kiba isn't smiling, so I turn back to Naruto and Hinata. _They're walking so close to each other… _As they get closer to us, I can see that they're holding hands. _Oh._

_Back to Kiba. _His expression has changed to the opposite of what it was a second ago: he's grinning at them and starting to get up from his seat.

"Oi, Naruto, Hinata!" He pats Naruto on the back, then gives Hinata a short, one-armed hug.

"H-Hi, Kiba-kun."

"Hey, Kiba." Naruto grins, too.

"_Amaya!"_ Ino leans closer to whisper. "Did they?…"

"I don't know either," I shrug. "Hinata didn't tell me anything."

"So," somebody says loudly, "When did you guys start-" Shikamaru doesn't get to finish. Ino smacks her hand over her mouth before he can.

"Please excuse him," she says in an overly friendly tone. Then she starts silently screaming at him:

"You don't just ask them that up front! You have to wait before bringing it up first…And besides, we should wait until everyone else gets here." She smirks.

[…]

"Over here!" I shout as Lee and Sakura arrive. They smile and wave, then walk toward us.

"Hey everyone," Sakura smiles and sits down between me and Ino. Lee sits in between Aiko (who's on my left) and Naruto. Aiko looks at me questionably and glances at Lee, using her eyes to "point" at him without him noticing.

"What?" I ask quietly.

"Why is _he _here?"

"…Why not?"

"He's in my class. He's so _weird… _And doesn't he work at that old ninja shop?"

"Yeah but he's my friends' friend. It wouldn't be right to exclude him. He's not _that _bad."

Aiko sighs. "Well okay."

I look around the table to find out who's still missing: Aiko, Lee, Naruto, Hinata, Kiba, Choji, Shikamaru, and Ino, in that order. _When did Choji get here? _I must have been too distracted talking to Aiko to notice.

There's an empty seat between Kiba and Choji. TenTen is still missing.

"Does anyone know where TenTen is?" I ask the group.

As if on cue, somebody violently pushes the banner out of the way and jogs to the table.

"Sorry I'm late," TenTen sits down in the empty seat. Aiko rolls her eyes, and everyone else kind of gives off the same look, as if they're already used to this. She _was _one of the last people to arrive at the Christmas party. And she _was _late for Hinata's birthday…

"Good evening," somebody says. I turn around to see it's the waiter. I'm so used to sitting at the counter, that having somebody other than Teuchi or that one other girl take our orders throws me off.

"Is everyone ready order?" Ino asks. The rest of us just say "yes" or nod.

"Okay then," he says, then starting with Aiko: "And what will you have?"

_Naruto Namikaze_

"She _did? _Oh my God!"

"He made it onto the team last year, I'm pretty sure he'll try out again when we get back from winter break."

"I don't wanna go back to school…"

"So did you end up studying? Sorry I kinda ditched."

"Ew, I hate the taste of any tea. I'm a coffee type of person."

Everybody's having their own conversations while I wait for the right moment to tell them. Hinata's talking to Amaya's sister (I forgot her name). Introducing herself and asking about academic stuff, which I really don't feel like talking about right now.

"Nice to meet you, Shimizu-san," she smiles.

"It's okay to call me Aiko, Hinata_-chan._"

When they finish talking, Hinata looks at me and her smile slowly fades.

"Naruto-kun…"

"Yeah?"

"When are we going to tell them?…" I can't even tell if she wants me to or not anymore.

"Well… I guess now wouldn't hurt." I clear my throat in an attempt to get everybody's attention, but only Ino looks my way. She nudges Shikamaru so he does, too.

"What is it, Naruto?" She asks.

"I uh.." I cough. "Just clearing my throat."

"Something you wanna tell us?" I look at Hinata, and Ino probably saw the way she was looking back at me, too. She sighs and whispers something in Shikamaru's ear. He sits up straighter and starts to ask:

"So, when did you guys start going-" Ino interrupts him again, like she did earlier, but I know what he's gonna ask.

"L-Last week." _Hinata! _I didn't think she'd be the one to tell.

"Hey, hey," Ino starts tapping Sakura and Amaya. "Did you hear that?"

"What?" Sakura looks confused.

"What was it again, Hinata?"

Hinata takes a breath and starts to say more clearly, "N-Naruto-kun-"

"I asked her out last week." _I can't let her tell them alone._

"And?" We definitely have everyone's attention now. Choji, Lee, Kiba, TenTen…, even Amaya's sister is listening now.

"I-I said yes." As soon as she says it, Ino's right next to her, hugging her tight.

"Oh my gosh, Hinata, finally!" She squeals. Hinata smiles and starts hugging her back.

"Took you long enough," Sakura says sarcastically.

"Congratulations," Amaya awkwardly adds.

Kiba stands up and puts an arm around both of us. "Congrats, you guys." He turns to me: "Took you forever," then to Hinata, "But I'm glad it finally worked out."

'_Finally'? 'Long enough'? 'Took forever'? I'm seriously the only one who didn't know, this entire time?_

_Kiba Inuzuka_

"I asked her out last week," Naruto starts to say.

"I-I said yes." _Did I hear that correctly? _Ino starts congratulating them, but I can't hear what she's saying. Whatever she's saying is being drowned out. _Hinata never told me anything about this?… _It takes a while for Hinata's words to sink in, but when they do, I feel my heart drop to my stomach. _So Hinata is finally… No. Stop it, Kiba._

Hinata looks so happy; I can't start ruining it for them- for _her_. I am _not _repeating Christmas. Instead, I go up to them and put an arm around Hinata and Naruto, congratulating them both.

Even though I knew she liked Naruto already, I started to like Hinata in junior high. It's been four years since then, and I still do like her. Well, after four years, I don't even know if I can consider it as just _"liking" _her anymore…

They're finally together, so all I can do now is back off and support Hinata. I guess I can say I don't really mind, either, because she's happy. _If she's happy, I'm happy._

_Amaya Shimizu_

I feel really, really bad for Kiba. When Hinata tells everyone the news, I'm glad, but at the same time, I can't help but feel a little sad, too.

Knowing how much he liked her already, it kinda hurt just watching him get up and congratulate them. I can't even imagine how much it actually hurts for him.

When our food gets to the table, everyone begins eating then goes on with their conversations. It seems like everyone's in a good mood, except for, I'd assume, Kiba. But when I look at him, he's like everybody else: smiling and laughing, participating in the conversation. I guess he plans on being mature about this.

[…]

10:00 p.m., and the shrine is already packed. There are huge lines at all of the fortune-telling and food stands. Clusters of people just stand by fires and chat with their groups.

Among all of these people, I spot a familiar head of spiked, black hair. Reminds me of a duck for some reason. The person turns around, and I get a better glimpse of his face. _What the-_

"Sasuke!" Sakura squeals. She starts hugging me. "Oh my gosh, thankyouthankyouthankyou!"

"Huh?"

"For inviting him!" _Right!_

"Oh, yeah! I almost forgot…" She starts to walk quickly toward him.

_Hinata Hyuga_

We're at the shrine now, but I can't stop thinking about our announcement at the restaurant. They finally know…

"Sasuke!" I hear Sakura scream. I look to where she and Amaya are looking: Sasuke _is _here. I honestly didn't think he'd come.

I look at Naruto. His eyes follow Sakura as she walks to Sasuke. Then he shakes his head slightly and grins at me.

"Didn't think we'd run into that bastard here."

"N-Neither did I." _Is he still- No. No. I have to trust what he said on my birthday._

"Guys!" Sakura's back with Sasuke and his brother, Itachi.

"Hey," Itachi bows politely as he greets us. Sasuke just tilts his head back as some sign of acknowledgement.

_Amaya Shimizu_

"I'm gonna go get some hot cocoa," Sakura says. "Sasuke, you want some?" She doesn't give him time to answer. She just starts walking to the stand that's selling it.

"Didn't know _you'd _be here," I mutter.

"What, you have a problem with me being here? I'm only here because he-" he points at his brother, "-made me go with him."

"Tch…" I go to talk to Aiko. She's staring at his brother.

"He's nice," she smiles, but she doesn't look at me. "Smart, too."

"I didn't think that was possible for anybody related to that jerk." I glare at Sasuke. To be honest, I don't even know him that well. I just don't like what I've heard about him. Then there was that time when we went to go get my textbooks…

Aiko doesn't reply. She starts walking to his brother. _Wow. _They start talking. He smiles and nods. They both start laughing.

Sakura's walking back with two cups of hot cocoa. Her face turns red as she starts to offer it to Sasuke:  
"H-Here, Sasuke-kun." He rolls his eyes, then sighs as he takes it, as if he was being forced to. _If you're gonna be like that then just don't freaking take it!  
_

_Hinata Hyuga_

"Hinata-sama." _Neji. _His hand is on my shoulder.

I smile. "Glad you could make it, Neji-nii."

Amaya sees him and her face brightens. "Hey, everyone's here!"

"Okay!" Ino shouts. "So that means we can finally go pray and have our fortunes told~"

"And eat," Choji adds.

[…]

I clap twice to conclude my praying. Naruto does the same. We were the last ones in our group, so we walk to where they're getting their fortunes.

We are each handed a tiny slip of paper folded in half. I unfold mine and read it. _I'll have good luck overall… School will go well… Bad luck in- Wait. _"Bad luck with love"? I look at Naruto. He's grinning.

"Says I'll be really lucky this year!"

"Really?"

He holds out the slip of paper. "Yeah haha, what about you?"

"Same," I lie and smile as I crumple the paper up in my jacket pocket. _Bad luck with love? No…, I never believed in these things anyway._

_Amaya Shimizu_

"_The new year will bring you good luck and pleasant surprises."_

Surprises? I wonder what they mean by that.

I go to tie my fortune on the branch of a tree, anyway. Aiko and I have followed the tradition since we were kids. Our parents would take us to the shrine and read our fortunes to us, then sometimes they'd lift us up because we couldn't reach the branches ourselves.

I look over and see Aiko talking to Neji. He's smiling. She can literally talk to _anyone _and somehow get them so smile or laugh. I wish I could do that, too. I really wish our parents were here. I know how happy they'd be to see how well we're doing in Konoha.

[…]

"Five… Four… Three… Two… One!"

"Happy New Year!" Everyone shouts in unison.

Ino kisses Shikamaru. Kiba hugs Hinata, then Naruto hugs her and keeps one arm around her. Lee and Choji high-five. Neji, Itachi, TenTen, and Aiko all toast with hot cocoa. Sakura gives Ino a hug, then she gives me one, too.

Then she goes back to talk to Ino, and I stand back, just watching all of them: Laughing, smiling, grinning; _Happy._

**Author's Note:**

_**So I'm finally done with this chapter.**_

_**I just finished reading this over, so a few uh… "notes"? :**_

_**- Naruto's parents are both alive, so his last name is still indeed Namikaze.**_

_**- Kiba never knew about Naruto and Hinata because, if you remember, Hinata never got to calling him after being interrupted by Naruto.**_

_**- The textbook thing Amaya mentioned is in the 2**__**nd**__** chapter.**_

_**I'm going to start chapter 11 already, however… I'm sorry that I won't be able to set an exact deadline. I may be busy in the next few weeks, but I'll use whatever time I can get to write/type. Hopefully it'll be out before December, but if not, sorry!**_

_**I did really re-read this, but if you happen to find any spelling/grammar errors, tell me so I can fix it .-.**_

_**Any more questions? P.M. me.**_

_**Thanks for reading!**_

**DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN NARUTO/NARUTO: SHIPPUDEN!**


	11. The New Kids

Konoha High

11 - The New Kids

_Amaya Shimizu_

Sasuke sighs. "Can we leave yet?" _Way to ruin the mood. _I punch him in the arm (not hard, I promise) when Sakura isn't looking.

"Sasuke, don't be rude," Itachi holds up a second glass of hot cocoa for him, and Sasuke surrenders and actually smiles as he accepts it. _Even Sasuke, huh? But I guess his brother is the only one who can make him smile like that._

Despite how cold it actually is out here, everybody looks so happy celebrating that they give off a warm atmosphere.

[…]

"Thanks for coming, guys." I check my phone: 12:30 a.m. Most of the group's already tired, but I'm still wide awake.

Everybody's walking away now, and I stand by the car with Aiko, waiting for her to finish talking to Sasuke's older brother (whose name, apparently, is Itachi). I just wanna go home and have an Anime Night with my sister.

"Anime Night" is exactly what it sounds like: a night devoted to watching anime, usually with Ramune and onigiri, which is why I was disappointed when Aiko didn't come home with either of those things a few nights ago. I hope the convenience store is still open because we need to stop by there before going home. _Anime Night is not Anime Night without Ramune and onigiri!_

Even though I'm really not tired, it starts to feel like it while waiting for her to finish her conversation. I take out my phone and play some random game in an attempt to tune them out. But there are a few things I can't help but overhear:

"I wouldn't mind that, actually." _Wouldn't mind _what?

"So you're coming?" _Where?!_

"Yeah, sure." I look up and see Itachi smiling, but Sasuke just looks irritated.

"Okay, Amaya, let's go." I immediately get into the passenger seat of the car, but Aiko holds the door open.

"What are you doing?" I ask.

"Get in the back."

"_Why?" _I whine.

"Because they're joining us at our house for a little while. Talk, maybe eat a little bit more."

I glare at her, but sigh and crawl into the back instead of getting out of the car to do it.

"Sorry, Amaya-san," Itachi apologizes as he gets into the car.

"It's fine." And I meant it…, until somebody slips into the back seat next to me.

I'll try to tolerate Sasuke's presence on the right side of the car… I put my elbow onto the armrest in the center, but my elbow hits something else. I roll my eyes. _Really, Sasuke? Gonna take my spot on the armrest?_

"So what kind of Ramune do you wanna get?" Aiko asks.

"It doesn't really matter, I'm alright with any kind." Itachi answers.

The car slows down. We're here.

When the car stops, we all get out. Aiko and I start to walk in ahead, while Sasuke and Itachi stick back for a second. It's probably Itachi lecturing him about something like being _nice_ or whatever.

"_But Nii-san!" _I hear Sasuke complain. He sounds like a little kid, but I find it adorable that even he addresses his older brother that way. He didn't seem like he would.

They start to walk into the store now, but Sasuke looks more irritated. All of us go back into the drink section, where Aiko picks up a pack of strawberry Ramune- one of my favorites. Then, we go to buy a small bag of rice. I offer to carry it, but Itachi's the one that ends up taking it from her hands instead.

We give our items to the cashier and wait for him to finish punching numbers into the register. I think I'm imagining it, but Aiko's face looks like it's turning a light shade of red; almost pink.

When she gives her money to the cashier, he puts the items into a plastic bag and hands them to her. Itachi takes it as we exit the store and carries it to the car, then puts it in the trunk.

Aiko gets into the driver's seat, but she's the only one who enters the car. Sasuke's talking to Itachi again, and I'm outside just to…observe.

"Sasuke, it won't be that long, just come with us."

"Nii-san…" His eyes meet mine for less than a second and then he looks back at Itachi. "I'm going home."

"Well okay…"

Itachi and I get into the car. Aiko looks confused.

"Where's he going?"

"He wanted to go home." Itachi tells her.

"Oh, sorry. Maybe it isn't a good idea at this time."

"No, no. It's alright, he's just like moody like that sometimes."

I'm mad that he just left like that, but I'm also relieved. It would've been really awkward for him to be at my house…

[…]

"So this is our house~" Aiko says proudly as we enter.

"Very nice," Itachi comments as he looks around. She grins at the compliment.

I take the bag from Itachi and set it on the table, then take out the Ramune and stick them all in the fridge. Aiko starts opening the bag of rice.

"So what are we doing?" Itachi asks.

"Well, like I mentioned earlier, we needed Ramune and rice for onigiri."

"And?"

"So we're gonna drink Ramune and eat onigiri," I tell him.

"Do you ever watch anime?" _Why is she asking him that?_

"Sometimes. I used to watch a lot more when I was in primary school."

"Well onigiri and Ramune usually means we're gonna do 'Anime Night'. Hopefully you won't mind joining us," she smiles and starts cooking the rice.

"Sounds fun," Itachi smiles, too. I, on the other hand, do not. Why did Aiko tell him about Anime Night? That's _our _thing. It's only supposed to be between me and Aiko. I sigh and turn on the TV. _I guess it's okay. Itachi seems like a nice guy…_

_Aiko Shimizu_

Itachi and Amaya take a seat on the couch in front of the TV. I set the Ramune and plates of onigiri onto the table in front of the couch, then take a seat between them. Amaya sits on my left, and Itachi on my right.

Amaya opens the menu for recorded shows, and there's a list of anime episodes we haven't seen yet. She turns to me.

"Which one do you wanna watch, Nee-san?"

I look at Itachi. "Any requests?"

"I don't mind watching whatever you two want," he smiles and leans against the armrest.

"Let's finish SAO, Amaya."

She scrolls down and pushes the select button. A few minutes into the show, Itachi laughs a little.

"I was actually watching this with Sasuke a few days ago when it came on." I see Amaya scrunch up her lips a little at the mention of Sasuke.

"It's good, isn't it?" I say as the theme song starts. The words "Sword Art Online" appear on the screen.

"Yeah."

_Amaya Shimizu_

I find myself tearing up towards the ending of the anime, but I can't cry. Not with Itachi here. I glance at him and Aiko. Unlike what I'd expected, he doesn't look bored. He's actually watching along, paying attention. Aiko, however, is sleeping. I didn't even notice she fell asleep until now.

[…]

It's 2:03 in the morning. The closing song comes on to signify the end of the episode. I look at them again:

Aiko's body starts to lean right, and her head now rests upon Itachi's shoulder. He doesn't do anything about it, though. He just lets her stay like that.

It takes a while for me to realize how quiet it is now that the song is over. The TV screen is back at the recorded shows menu, asking me if I want to delete the episode or not. I keep it so that Aiko can see the ending.

Itachi yawns. "Ah…, well I guess I should get home."

"O-Oh, yeah. Okay. I should wake her up to tell her."

"No it's fine. Actually…" he stands up and puts one arm under her legs and the other under her back. _What is he doing?!_

"Do you mind showing me where her room is?"

"O-Okay." Itachi lifts her. _What am I supposed to do? I didn't know Itachi was like that!_

I walk towards the hallway and open the first door to the right. He's following behind, still carrying her. I turn on the light as he walks through the door and keep an eye on him. He doesn't ask me to leave, though. All he does is set her down on the bed and pull the blankets up to cover her. I sigh with relief. _Sorry, Itachi, _I secretly apologize. _Sorry I thought you were like that._

I turn off the lights and close the door as we leave the room. Itachi walks to the door and puts his jacket on, then he sits down to put on his shoes. When he stands up, he starts to open the door, but before he walks out, he turns to me:

"Thanks for letting me join you guys." He bows politely.

"You're welcome, anytime." And I mean it. I wouldn't mind getting to know Itachi more, seeing how nice he is and how well he gets along with my sister.

He smiles and bows politely. "Thanks again," he says as he closes the door behind him.

It's quiet again. I look at the clock in the kitchen: 2:15 a.m. _I need to go to bed._

_Sasuke Uchiha_

I pull the headphones out of my phone and glance at the screen: 2:30 a.m. and still nothing from Itachi. Does he plan on sleeping over there or something?

The last text I got was from Amaya, asking me if I could go to the shrine. I still have no idea how she got my phone number because I don't really give it out to people at my school. The last person I gave my number to was Shikamaru, and that was because he got assigned as my partner for a school project. That was months ago…

I need to be careful about who I trust with my number. Last month, my phone wouldn't stop going off because someone leaked my number out to some girl, who apparently ended up telling all of the other girls, and then… _Yeah. _I got a new phone-and number- the next week.

A lot of people think I'm lucky to get so much attention, but really, I'm not. I try not to talk much or do anything that would attract attention, so why does it happen anyway?

I've heard a lot of things like "It's because he's an Uchiha"; "He's really smart", etc. But I know that really, it's because of my physical appearance. It attracts girls, which makes the guys dislike me, I guess. It's not like I _want _to do that… But I guess that's what sets Amaya apart. As hypocritical as it might sound, it throws me off that she treats me opposite of the way most girls do.

"_Tadaima!" _I hear Itachi shut the door. His footsteps are getting closer to my room…

"Sasuke?" The door opens a little and he pokes his head inside.

"Yeah, yeah. Okairi, Nii-san."

"You should've just came with me," he says. "You know what we were watching there?" I don't say anything, so he goes on.

"Sword Art Online. That's what we were watching that one time, right?"

"Yeah, so?"

He sighs, but smiles anyway. "I'm going to sleep now. You should sleep soon, too, okay? Good night."

"'Night," I say as he leaves.

I pull the blanket over my legs and reach for the switch on the wall. I turn off the lights and lay back in bed.

I feel bad for acting like that earlier at the shrine. I guess it's just because her friends were there, and they'd jump to conclusions if I started acting… "friendly" towards her. I'm not like that with a lot of people, but for some reason, I'm drawn to the way that she pushes me away instead of trying to get closer.

She seems like the kind of person I could talk to and have an actual conversation with; the kind of person I could ask something and have it answered honestly. The thing with her is, it doesn't seem like it's just disinterest, it's like she actually dislikes me- maybe even _hates _me.

_I guess I can _try_ to sleep tonight…_

_Amaya Shimizu_

"_Amaya!" _Aiko shouts from her bedroom. It's seven in the morning, and I just went to sleep four hours ago. _What does she want?_

I open the door to her room, where she's still lying on her bed in the same clothes she went out with yesterday.

"What?" I groan.

"What time did Itachi leave? And why didn't you wake me up?" She asks me.

"He left at like 2. He said I shouldn't wake you up, then he carried you back here before leaving."

She starts blushing. "H-He did?" She checks her phone and starts to smile. I'm guessing Itachi texted her when he got home.

"Yeah… Well I'm going back to sleep." Aiko doesn't even respond, but I don't really care. I walk slowly back to my room like a zombie and collapse onto my bed.

[…]

The remaining days of Winter Break go by in a blur. More Anime Nights with Aiko, meeting up at the park or the mall with the group…, now, we finally go back to school.

I can't tell if this is a good thing or a bad thing. I mean, I get to see my friends, yeah, but then school itself is just stressful. Most of the things they teach are easy, but Aiko usually pushes me to study more than I need to. When the tests come around, I always find out that I did more work than I needed to.

My phone goes off because of the alarm I set last night for 6 a.m., but I woke up ten minutes early. Now that it actually is six, I go out to the kitchen and start making eggs for breakfast. I hear Aiko's door open. She yawns as she shuffles into the kitchen.

"_Ohayou_…" She mumbles.

"'Morning to you, too," I say.

She takes a cup from a cupboard and starts to fill it with water.

"So," she takes a sip. "Why are you up so early?"

I turn off the stove and take a plate out of the dishwasher (which we use for storage instead of actually washing dishes) and let the eggs slide onto it from the frying pan.

"I guess I couldn't really sleep."

"Mm…, well we need to be ready before 8:30."

"Okay," I grab a fork on my way to the table. When I sit down, Aiko leans down and steals an egg off of my plate. She sits down across the table from me and puts her own plate down.

"What'd you do that for?"

"Oh? I thought you were cooking for both of us," she smirks.

[…]

I dig through my closet for something to wear underneath the school's blazer. I grab a plain, long-sleeved shirt (like the one I wore the first day of our break when I forgot that we didn't have school) and put it on. Then I put on the blazer, the black stockings, and the gray skirt.

I walk to my dresser and open the little wooden box that sits on top of it. Inside is the small collection of jewelry I own. The first thing I take out is a necklace with a white, teardrop-like charm strung to it; one half of the Yin & Yang symbol. _This brings me back… _My best friend gave it to me a few months before I left Kiriga.

I put it on and go to the bathroom. I comb my hair there, then I grab my bag and head for the front door. I sit on the wooden part of the floor and put on the black shoes to complete my uniform.

"Amaya? You ready?" Aiko comes out of her room and stops to put on her shoes, too. When she stands, I step outside and wait for her to lock the door.

We're start walking to school now, where I'll begin my second day at Konoha High.

[…]

"Hey, Amaya!" Sakura shouts from the school's main entrance. She's wearing a light pink shirt under her blazer and has a typical Japanese schoolbag slung over her shoulder. I walk around a crowd of students and sit by her on the steps in front of the door.

"Do I even wanna ask about what's happening?" I nod my head to gesture toward the crowd.

"Well…," Sakura starts. "Naruto got into a fight again."

"He _did _say he was gonna beat Sasuke up when he got back…"

She sighs. "I figured as much. Why can't he just leave Sasuke alone?"

I spot Hinata and Kiba among all of the screaming people, both struggling to see the fight. She looks worried, but he just looks bored. Kiba sees us and starts dragging Hinata out of the crowd, towards us.

"O-Ohayou," Hinata clutches onto her schoolbag tightly. It's similar to Sakura's. She's wearing a white shirt, like mine, underneath her blazer, along with a nervous smile.

"Ohayou," Kiba greets casually. "Don't mind Hinata. She's just worried about Naruto over there, attempting to fight Sasuke for the millionth time."

"B-But Kiba-kun! They could get hurt or-"

"So you don't have any confidence in Naruto?" Sakura asks.

"I-I didn't say that!"

"But didn't Naruto lose his last fight when I first got here?" I add. Hinata opens her mouth to say something, but no words come out. Her eyes dart anxiously between Sakura and me, then to Kiba.

"_Guys,_"Kiba interrupts. "Leave Hinata alone. I'll go stop the fight already."

"K-Kiba-kun, you could get hurt, too…"

"Nahh," he grins, "I could kick both of their asses if I wanted to!" and starts making his way through all of the people.

_Kiba Inuzuka_

When I finally make it through the crowd, I take a second to assess what's happening: Naruto's panting, but grinning. His lip is bleeding, but that's about all I can see. Sasuke is still standing. There's a red spot on the side of his face which will undoubtedly start bruising soon, and his expression shows annoyance.

Naruto starts to pull his right arm back, ready to throw another punch. _It's time. _His arm begins straightening out as it thrusts forward but I step in front of Sasuke just in time to catch his fist.

I turn around and see people clearing a path for Sasuke as he starts to walk away, then the whole crowd itself starts to separate until it's just Naruto and me left.

"Don't run away, this isn't over yet!" Naruto yells at him. When he realizes he's not coming back, he faces me: "What the hell, Kiba!"

I let go of his fist and wait for the rest of it.

"I was gonna win! Why did you stop me?!"

"Why do you still wanna fight Sasuke, anyway?" I ask.

"Can't you he's hurting Sakura?"

"Sakura can handle it herself. And you- you have _Hinata _that you should be taking care of."

"It's not just Sakura, though; all of the girls who like him are victims! And Sasuke's still an asshole. He's gotta be so damn cocky about everything."

I sigh. "I know he is, but you can't keep picking fights with him like this, especially when you know you won't win."

"But I _was _gonna win if you hadn't stopped me-"

"I stopped you because Hinata was concerned about you." _That shut him up._ "I don't care that you were finally gonna win, just stop doing this for her sake, okay?"

He's quiet for a while, then finally: "Yeah…, I got it."

The bell rings, so I start walking to Amaya and the others, my back facing him.

"And if you do anything else to worry her or hurt her, I _will _kick your ass- _Ya hear me, Naruto?_"

_Amaya Shimizu_

"Are you okay, Kiba-kun?" Hinata runs up to him when she sees him coming our way.

"Yeah, yeah, I'm alright."

"Well then…, we should get to class," I say. I know Aiko wouldn't want me to be late.

We start walking through the hallway, then up the stairs, then through another hallway, and so on, until we reach room 3-A. Kakashi-sensei isn't there yet, so we're okay.

"Ino? I didn't know you were already here," Sakura walks over to Ino, who's standing at the back of the room with Choji.

"It's probably because I got sucked into that group of people who were watching the fight. Oh, who won, anyways?"

"Ah…, Kiba broke off the fight, so I'm not really sure who won," Sakura tells her.

"Really?"

"Yeah," Kiba grins, "I beat up both of them."

"Tch, no," I say, then roll my eyes. "He just stopped Naruto, I'm pretty sure."

"Mm…"

Naruto walks into the classroom. He looks down instead of facing any of us. Hinata walks to him. I can't tell what she's saying, but she starts smiling. Naruto lifts his head so I can see that his lip is bleeding, but he's smiling apologetically. Hinata digs through her schoolbag and pulls out a napkin, then hands it to him.

"Sorry I'm a little late," the door to the classroom slides closed. Kakashi-sensei sets his stuff onto his desk in the front. Everybody goes back to their seat. Kakashi clears his throat:

"Welcome back, everyone. I guess we should start off with a seating change, but before that, there are not one, but _two _new students to introduce."

The class immediately starts discussing this:

"Do you think it's a guy?"

"Do you think it's a girl?"

"Wow, we're really on a roll with all of these transfer students."

"I heard it's a guy."

"I really hope it's a girl- this class really lacks girls."

"Think they're gonna be hot?"

"I hope I don't end up sitting next to them."

"Ahem!" Kakashi "clears his throat" once again to get our attention back. He starts to slide the door open again. "Come on in," he tells whoever is still behind it.

A skinny, pale boy with short black hair walks into the room. He looks really nervous; his eyes are looking down, and his eyebrows are raised slightly.

"This," Kakashi pats him on the shoulder. "Is Sai. He's been home schooled for up until now, so please be nice."

Sai bows. "Yoroshiku…onigaishimasu." His lips twitch before he actually smiles.

"Okay," Kakashi continues. "You can stay up here, we're about to change seats soon, anyway. Now, I don't think the second student-" The classroom's phone starts to ring. He goes to pick it up:

"Hello? Oh, no that's okay, I won't mark them late. Okay, thank you." He puts the phone down. "So the other new student was just at the office. Just wait patiently for her to get here."

"_Her". _So it's a girl.

"The other student is a girl?"

"He said 'her', I'm pretty sure he didn't make a mistake."

"So Sai do you know her?"

"The Sai kid looks a little weird…"

I hear somebody's footsteps tapping rapidly against the tile in the hallway. They're running.

"I think she's here!" Kakashi shouts to get us all to shut up. But the person who now stands at the door, hands on their knees and panting, isn't a girl. He has ear-length, choppy brown hair and his blazer is unbuttoned, revealing a dark-blue t-shirt with a village's symbol on it- not Konoha's, but Kirigakure's. _Kiriga?…_

He finally catches his breath and lifts his head, revealing the rest of his face. _Is he really… _I gasp with the realization.

"What's wrong?" Sakura whispers. I shake my head like it's nothing.

"Sorry I'm late," he finally speaks. "I got lost on the way here." He smiles while awkwardly scratching the back of his head.

"Go ahead and introduce yourself," Kakashi tells him.

"Right…," he averts his eyes from the class. "I'm Akari."

I can tell some of the people beside me are suppressing giggles.

"Isn't that a girls' name?" Somebody remarks.

"It's a unisex name!" He snaps. Kakashi puts his hand on his shoulder as if to hold him back.

He calms down and mutters, "You can just call me Aki," then walks to join Sai beside Kakashi's desk. _It really _is _Akari?! Why is he here?_

"Okay, then!" Kakashi clasps his hands together. "Well, everybody head to the back of the classroom and hang out for a bit while I draw the new seating chart up on the board."

I get up and follow everyone else to the back. People are crowding around Akari, trying to talk to him or ask questions.

"Yeah…, I was going to-" His hazel eyes widen when he sees me. He runs and pulls me into a hug.

"Akari, what are you doing here?" I ask him when we separate.

"I'm staying with my older cousin. He goes to college here now and, well, his parents were a little concerned about him living alone. So I volunteered…"

"Your parents were okay with it?"

I don't even know why I'm asking this. Akari can very easily take care of himself, as well as others.

"Of course. You know how much they trust me, and I'm doing a favor for my cousin. You remember Hajime, right? And-" his eyes go down to my necklace. He scoops up part of it in his hands and smiles.

"You still have it," he says in disbelief. Then he grins wider as he pulls out a pendant that was tucked beneath his shirt. "I still have mine, too."

His pendant is… how do I say this… Almost identical, yet completely opposite of mine. The pendant now hangs visibly from his neck. The charm is teardrop-shaped, like mine. But it's black, with a little white dot. The _Yin _to my _Yang._

"Amaya?" Ino calls. She takes a few steps until she's right beside me. "You know him already?"

"Yeah, I-"

"Okay! Start drawing your numbers, the new seating chart is up on the board!" Kakashi sets a small basket on top of his desk.

"Tell me later," she says, walking to the front. "I'm gonna figure out where I have to sit."

I follow her. We now stand in a line with our classmates, waiting to draw a number from the basket. We inch closer and closer, until Ino and I are at the front. We stick our hands into the basket and pull out one folded-up piece of paper each, then we go stand on the left side of the classroom to see what we got.

"Eighteen," Ino shows me her paper.

I unfold my own: "Five."

Someone puts their arm around my neck and pulls me to their chest.

"Eleven," Akari says. I can tell he's grinning, so I look to the board: Five is the second desk from the front, on the very left of the classroom where the windows are- Eleven is the one right next to it.

I smile, too, and lean on Akari as I check the board to see who else will be sitting around me: Three is in front of me, and fourteen is behind me. Ino was neither fourteen or three… So who is?

[…]

All of our desks have been moved around, and the class has settled down. Three was Hinata, and fourteen was Kiba. I don't really mind this seating arrangement because they're all my friends. I'm also glad I didn't end up sitting next to Shino. There's nothing wrong with him…, it's just that I heard he gets a bit offended when he's excluded… and I forgot to invite him to the shrine visit on New Year's…

"Let's continue with novel we've been reading for Literature. We left off on page…"

"97," Sakura reminds him.

"Page 97 before Winter Break, so let's just start from the first paragraph there. Everybody has their books, I hope?"

"Sensei," Ino raises her hand. "I forgot it…"

Kakashi sighs. "Well then, I still have some extra copies. Just bring it back by the end of the day. Which reminds me…, Amaya, Akari, and Sai. You need to come up and get your own copies of it."

Akari stands up. "Don't worry, I'll go get you one, too."

Sai stands up on the other side of the room with Ino and the three of them walk to the front to get books off of Kakashi's desk. Akari tosses a book onto my desk and then sits back down in his own.

"Thanks."

"No problem," he flips through the pages. "Page 87, right?"

"_Ninety-_seven."

"Right, right." He nods and flips a few more pages.

Kakashi starts reading: "'_The previous leaders were not capable of'_- and remember that this was around one hundred years ago- _'carrying out their roles. So when the citizens rebelled…'_"

[…]

"Well then," Kakashi looks at the clock above the chalkboard. "We'll start Math after lunch." He dismisses us and leaves the classroom. We already finished Literature, P.E., History, and Science.

I stand up and sling my messenger bag over my shoulder. "So where do you usually eat lunch?" I ask Hinata.

She stands, too. "Well it depends. If the weather's nice, we usually eat outside or on the roof, but I think it's too cold to do that today…"

"So where are we going?"

"We can stay in here," Kiba answers instead. "It's either that or the cafeteria, _or… _Well sometimes Naruto, Shikamaru, and I go to eat in this empty classroom. We're not really allowed to, but…"

"W-We should just stay here, Kiba-kun." I know Hinata doesn't wanna get in trouble.

"Okay."

I wait for more people to leave the classroom to see who stays. When no one else is leaving, Akari, Kiba, Hinata, Ino, Sakura, Naruto, and Shino are left. I guess this is the group I'll be eating with today.

Ino sits down in one of the desks in the back of the classroom. I sit on her left, while Hinata sits in front of her. Kiba sits in front of me and next to Hinata, so we've formed a square. Then, Sakura takes the other seat next to Ino, and Naruto sits in front of Sakura. Akari sits next to me, and finally, Shino sits down next to Kiba. Now it's a rectangle.

I take my wallet out of my bag and stand up again. "I forgot to make a bento, so I'm gonna go to the cafeteria real quick, k?"

Most of them nod and say "Okay." I start walking to the door.

"I'll go, too." I turn around. Akari gets up and starts to follow me.

[…]

"Back," I announce as I walk back into the classroom.

"What'd you get?" Sakura asks.

"Melon bread," I hold up the small plastic bag. "And I got some juice from a vending machine, too."

I take my seat next to Ino and Akari takes his seat next to me. I open the plastic packaging so I can start eating already.

"So explain to me now." Ino looks at me and starts tapping her fingers against the desk.

"Huh…" _Oh, yeah. I almost forgot. _"Alright, um… This," I pat Akari's shoulder, "Is my friend Akari. He's a year older than me, but we used to be in the same class in Kiriga because I skipped a grade."

"Mm…" Ino nods as she observes him. "And why do you have a girls' name?"

"It's _not _a girls' name!" He looks irritated, but then his expression softens and he sighs. "Okay, well, my parents were expecting a girl, so they'd already picked this name. When they found out I wasn't gonna be a girl, they didn't wanna change the name anymore. They'd already grown fond of 'Akari'."

"Okay, okay."

"Nice to meet you, Akari-san," Hinata smiles and shakes his head.

"Yeah, er…"

"Hyuga Hinata," she tells him.

"Got it. So, nice to meet you too, _Hinata-_san."

Then most of the other people tell him their names, too:

"Inuzuka Kiba."

"Haruno Sakura."

"Aburame Shino."

"Yamanaka Ino."

"Namikaze Naruto."

Akari stares at Naruto. "Namikaze? Are you the Hokage's son?"

Naruto averts his eyes and doesn't respond.

"Well, nice meeting you all, and," Akari bows slightly in his seat, "Yoroshiku."

_Aiko Shimizu_

"Aiko-san," I hear someone call after me as I leave the classroom. I slow down so whoever it is can catch up to me. Soon enough, Itachi is walking next to me.

"Hey, Itachi."

"Hey. How was the rest of your Winter Break?" He asks.

"It was alright. Oh, and why didn't you wake me up when you left?" I already know part of it from Amaya, but I want to see what he has to say.

"It was almost three in the morning, I figured you should get your sleep." We walk down the stairs and past the cafeteria.

"Ah… Well I'm sorry I fell asleep in the first place."

"It's fine."

We're outside now. I head for the nearest vending machine and buy two coffees. I take a seat on one of the benches near a flowerbed and set the coffee on my lap. I gesture for Itachi to come here, and he sits down next to me. I hand him one of the cans of coffee.

"Thanks," he says as he opens it. He takes a sip. "Did you bring lunch?"

"I forgot it," I open my coffee, too.

Itachi takes out a wrapped bento box out from his bag. "Here," he opens the box and offers it to me.

"N-No, I'm okay."

"It's fine." He gives me a pair of chopsticks. "Just leave some for me." He pushes the box into my hands. Half of the box is just plain rice, while the other half has mostly vegetables and meat.

"Arigatou." I clap twice, "Itadakimasu," and start eating.

"Who made this?" I ask.

Itachi scratches his head awkwardly but smiles. "I did. Sorry, my parents kind of expect Sasuke and I to be able to take care of ourselves and cooking isn't exactly my forte… Is it bad?"

I shake my head. "No, not at all. This is actually pretty good."

"Well that's good to hear. I'm used to thinking that my cooking is really bad because Sasuke stopped wanting me to make his school lunches in Junior High."

"It probably wasn't your cooking. I mean if you think about it… it'd be kinda weird to have your older brother make a lunch for you when you get to that age. No offense…"

"Mm… Well I just wanted to provide what I could for him."

"I know…, I'm like that with Amaya. Except I don't think she's grown out of having me make her lunches."

We both laugh a little. I look down to take some more rice. Half of it is already gone. I offer the box to Itachi.

"I left half," I tell him.

"Thank you." He takes it from me, but doesn't start eating.

"Oh yeah…, you need chopsticks. Sorry." I hold up the ones I used.

"It's okay," he stands up, "I'll get a pair from the cafeteria."

The bell rings. I stand and pick up my bag and coffee. "_Gomenosai, _Itachi…"

"It's okay. Come on." He's already at the door.

"O-Okay," I jog to get to him.

_Sasuke Uchiha_

"Okay, now we'll start math. Turn to page fifty-two in the workbook and 200 in the text book," Kakashi instructs us. "This is just review for the upcoming exams, so there's no lecture today. If you have any questions, go ahead and ask me. You may begin."

I take them both out and set them on my desk, then I turn to the assigned pages.

I'm a little disappointed with this seating arrangement. Usually, I don't really care where I sit. My current seat is behind Kiba. He _did _break off my fight with Naruto earlier, but I don't mind that I'm sitting behind him. What really bugs me for some reason is the fact that he's between me and Amaya. I guess it's because I know she's right there, but since there's somebody between us I can't really talk to her.

The person sitting next to me is Sakura. She's the kind of person I've learned to tolerate over the past few years. She's not a bad person, seriously, but I can't really talk to her. She always agrees with me, so the few conversations we have are tedious. And I know that she's had a crush on me for a while now, so it makes me feel a little awkward to know that whenever she looks at me or something.

I feel bad, though, because I'm always ignoring her or saying something negative that I don't really mean. I want to tell her to move on, but I think it's impossible to do that without hurting her. There's always a twinge of guilt whenever she defends me or says something good about me, because she makes it seem like I'm a better person than I really am.

"Sasuke-kun." Sakura whispers behind me. I turn around.

"I forgot my math textbook today. Can I borrow yours?"

She turns away for a second, so I look to direction that she was facing. Ino is looking at us from across the classroom and smirking.

"Can you do your workbook problems first?" I ask her. She looks embarrassed and her face reddens.

"W-Well, why don't we just work together?" _Why, of all seats, here?_

"Kakashi-sensei didn't give us that option." It's stupid of me to say that, since most of the other students have already begun to move around and talk to each other, asking for answers and comparing them.

"He didn't say we couldn't…" How persistent will she be? I know I said that she really isn't a bad person, but honestly, she does annoy me sometimes.

I sigh, "I guess it can't be helped," and push the book to the right of my desk so we can both see it.

"A-Arigatou, Sasuke-kun!" She takes out a notebook and begins working immediately. Before I start, I look past Kiba, at Amaya. She's talking to Hinata and Akari while finishing off some problems.

[…]

I'm only on the twentieth problem after 25 minutes. For me, that's slower than usual. For some reason, I can't think properly. Is it because Sakura is here? Or is it because I know that if I look up, I'll see Amaya smiling and talking to the new kid?

What's so great about him, anyway? Yeah, he's a little tall, but other than that, he doesn't really stand out. Did they just get along after finding out they sit next to each other, or did Amaya already know him before he came here? He _is _wearing a Kirigakure shirt…

"Sasuke-kun?" Sakura interrupts my thoughts.

"What?"

"How do you do this problem?" She points at number 15.

"Reverse that and simplify. Then either multiply by that or divide by this," I point out several numbers.

"Thanks." A smile begins to spread across her face as she quickly finishes the problem correctly and starts the next one. _She's faking it, _I think. I know that Sakura isn't stupid. She probably gets this, but is pretending to need help to get my attention.

"And this one, Sasuke-kun?" _This is gonna be a long day…_

_Amaya Shimizu_

"Did you get 35 on number 27?" Akari asks me.

"Yeah."

We've been working on this assignment for around thirty minutes. We're almost done.

"A-Amaya-san, did you do number 32 yet?" Hinata turns around in her seat to face me.

"No…, not yet." There are 35 problems- _She's fast._

"Alright- N-Naruto-kun, you're supposed to convert that into a decimal before solving the problem…" Hinata's helping Naruto, who moved to sit next to her. His face brightens and he tries to solve the problem again.

"That makes more sense. You're really smart, Hinata-chan." Now Hinata blushes.

"I-It's nothing, really…"

[…]

Hinata, Akari, and I are all done. Hinata's still helping Naruto, so I'm just talking to Akari.

"What time does school get out here?" He asks.

"Same as in Kiriga," I tell him. "So pretty soon. I think around… ten minutes."

"Okay."

"Are you going back to Kiriga to visit your parents soon?"

"Maybe. I'll talk to Aiko about it."

When we were in Kiriga, Aiko and I visited our parents graves every month or so. The last time we visited was at the start of December, before we moved. It'd be a good idea to go again sometime this month.

[…]

When we're dismissed, I put my math books back into my bag and wait near the door, where there's already a crowd forming to leave.

"Hey, Akari, do you wanna come by the new house?" I ask Akari, who's standing behind me.

"Sure," he says. He takes out his phone and starts dialing somebody's number.

"Oi, Hajime! I won't be home for a while, I'm going to a friend's house. Ramen? Okay. Okay… That's it? Oh. What else?"

I look around while waiting for him to finish talking and for the crowd to clear. Sasuke's looking at me. No… At Akari. He looks annoyed or angry or something. What's up with him? Akari's new. Why does he already seem irritated with him?

"I'll just get the ramen. You can go buy the rest tomorrow. Yeah, bye." Akari shoves his phone into his pocket and grins at me. "Just telling Hajime I won't be home right away."

"And I'm guessing you need to stop by the convenience store?"

"Yup. Guess you heard the ramen part. He's- Oh, go Amaya." I didn't notice we were already at the front of the crowd. Akari pushes me forward, through the door.

[…]

"We really had to stop here first?" Akari dragged me to the convenience store before we got to my house. We're scanning the aisles in search of ramen.

"How come you don't know where the ramen is? You've lived here for at least a week- I'm pretty sure you should know where the ramen is."

"It's not like I eat ramen every day."

"…Don't lie to me." _Dammit. _He knows ramen is one of my favorite foods.

"…And anyways, Aiko usually does the shopping. The only time I ever came here was for what… Onigiri and Ramune? Yeah, pretty much." I tell him.

"Mm…, Hey I think that's it over there." He points to the end of the aisle we're in.

We walk there and find out that Akari was right. He scans the shelves, starting out at the top and eventually squatting down to see the bottom ones. He points to several of them.

"That one… or that one… or this one? No…"

"Why are you having such a hard time? Didn't he tell you what flavor to get?"

"He wants beef, I know! I just don't know which brand…" Akari can be really picky sometimes.

"I know this brand isn't the best…" He puts one back on the shelf. "And this one is too spicy for beef flavor…" He puts another package of ramen back on the shelf, leaving one left in his arms.

"That's it, right?" I ask. "Let's go." I start walking to the check-out area, where there are already lines at every register. We get into the shortest one and wait.

[…]

"I got a pretty good deal," Akari swings the plastic bag around, grinning.

I sigh. "I still can't believe you bought ten packages because of it, though."

"It was worth it- and ramen is one of my favorite foods, too, you know."

"Okay, okay, whatever." I take my house key out of my bag and unlock the door.

"Tadaima!" I say as I walk in. We both take our shoes off and leave them by the door.

"Okairi." I can tell Aiko is in the kitchen, so I go there and Akari follows. Aiko's eyes widen when she sees him.

"H-Hello," he bows. "Nice to see you again, Aiko-nee." He's like a part of our family.

"Aka- what are you doing here?" She's confused.

"Akari has an older cousin here and he volunteered to stay with him for his parents."

"Well okay. Welcome to Konoha, Aki-kun," she smiles at him.

"Come on, Akari," I have him follow me into my room.

"It looks really different from how it was in Kiriga," he tells me as he comes through the door and looks around.

"Of course it does."

"Yeah- you used to change your room all the time."

"Yup."

"Amaya, Akari-kun," Aiko pokes her head into the room. "Did you eat already?"

I shake my head.

"Why don't you stay for dinner, Akari?" She offers.

"I should probably go back to Hajime already…, sorry. But thanks, Aiko-nee."

"Oh, it's alright."

Akari starts putting his shoes back on. "Next time, k? Thanks for letting me come over, your new house looks nice."

"Yeah, anytime, Aki."

He stands and walks out the door. "See you tomorrow," he waves when he gets a few yards away.

_Sasuke Uchiha_

I hear two knocks on my door, then Itachi enters my room. "Sasuke, are you ready for dinner?" He asks.

"Wait."

"What are you doing?" He looks over my shoulder.

"Studying." I scribble a few things into my notebook and close it. "Upcoming exams."

"Do you need help?"

"No." I get out of my desk. "It's time for dinner, isn't it?"

We leave my room and go into the kitchen, where our parents are waiting for us at the dining table.

[…]

I put my dishes into the sink and clear the rest of the table when everyone finishes eating. Itachi usually does the dishes, so I go back to my room.

I open my notebook and textbook again, but before I actually start studying, I notice the time: 9:50 p.m. I need to get ready to sleep.

I haven't changed since I got home from school, so I pull off my shirt and put on some loose, more comfortable pants. I go to the bathroom and wash my face, then dry it with a towel. I walk back to my room and lie in bed, but I don't turn off the lights.

I heard Amaya ask Akari if he wanted to go to her house. Are they that close already? Or _were _they already that close? What's her relationship with him? Friend? Boyfriend? _No. Can't jump to that conclusion yet._

_But what if he is? Then I should back off… No- it's not like I was doing anything in the first place. Why should I care about who she's dating?_

I don't think he's her boyfriend, though. If he was, it would've been more obvious. But still, it doesn't matter- I just wanted to be her, er, _friend, _anyway. _Yeah, sure…_

I turn out the lights then toss and turn a few times in my bed.

[…]

I rub my eyes and look at my alarm clock. It's one in the morning. I guess I didn't get as much sleep as I thought… I try closing my eyes again, but I'm still wide awake.

_Why can't I fall asleep?_

**Author's Note:**

_***Gasp* Sasuke's POV has finally been revealed! Haha, now, for a couple more notes:**_

_**- "Ohayou" = "Good morning"**_

_**- "Tadaima"/"Ittekimasu" = "I'm back"/"I'll be leaving now"**_

_**- "Okairi"/"Itterashai" = "Welcome back"/"Have a safe trip"**_

_**(Rough translations)**_

_**- "typical Japanese schoolbag" - think about basically every high school anime you've seen. Those rectangular bags with the handles on the top? Yup.**_

_**- Remember: Aiko is three years older than Amaya and Itachi's age (obviously) isn't the same as it is in the actual manga.**_

_**- Changes: Amaya is in class **__**3**__**-A, not 4-A.**_

_**- "Akari" is actually a unisex name- it's just more commonly used for girls.**_

_**- Don't ask me what kind of math they're doing, I just made it seem at least somewhat complex xD**_

_**- Disclaimer: I do NOT own "Sword Art Online"**_

_**A big thanks to the person (you know who you are ~) who helped me with the new OC!**_

_**No deadline is set for the next chapter to come out yet. Sorry ): Still pretty busy. When I get a better idea of when it'll be finished, I'll post it on my profile.**_

_**If you find any typos/spelling/grammar errors, please contact (PM or e-mail) me so I can fix it immediately! (E-mail is in my profile)**_

_**Thanks for being patient & hopefully you enjoyed this chapter (:**_

**DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN NARUTO/NARUTO: SHIPPUDEN!**


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